Alis volat propris
by Warrior Hal
Summary: They say that the trials of our past harden us,but this is not so for all.While some bear it,others hide behind a mask,and occasionally,a mask of strength,hiding tender emotions and the horrors of the past.And Lita is all too familiar with this. Kanda/OC
1. Ab initio

_Ab initio- From the Beginning_

* * *

><p>"Ouch…ow…ah, damnit that hurt…" green eyes blinked rapidly, watering slightly as they peered around curiously at the new surroundings. The owner of those eyes, a young woman of about seventeen or so, got up slowly, stumbling slightly as she rose. The over sized hoodie she wore covered most of her figure due to its depth, and the pulled up hood enveloped her face in shadow.<p>

She squinted into the darkness, and after stumbling through what seemed like a forest or some sort of woodsy area, she found herself on a white stone path leading to what looked like a castle. Shivering in the cold night air, she pulled the hoodie closer to her figure and began walking towards the castle.

* * *

><p>"Hm? Now who's that?" Komui leaned towards the display as he took a careful sip of his coffee. It appeared as though someone was at the doors. Some of the scientists from the research department had come to watch, as well as a few exorcists, namely Allen, Lavi and Leenalee.<p>

"Seems like we've got an intruder or something." Komui shrugged, leaning back. But not everyone else could act so nonchalantly.

"AAAHHHH! Are you serious chief? That's a big deal if there's an intruder outside!" Reever shouted, leaning forward towards the display. He squinted at the figure before the doors of the Order. The person wasn't very tall or short, but probably of medium height. Whoever it was wore a sort of short dark blue cloak of some kind, with the hood drawn, and strange, black leggings.

"I'll take care of it."

All heads turned to the source of the voice to see Kanda, gripping his sword, the moody, angry look on his face the same as always. The researchers within his immediate vicinity backed away quickly. For some odd reason, Kanda had been in an even worse mood today than he usually was, and everyone was trying to stay out of his path.

"Well, er…we don't want them dead in case it's just some random person who happened to wander up here…I mean, we could just push them off the cliff…" Komui hesitated.

"Chief, if we pushed a normal person off the cliff, it'd kill them. Maybe just send Allen or Lavi-" Reever stopped when he looked up and saw that Kanda was gone.

"Oh…crap. That's not good." Reever said, running a hand through his hair. He pitied the poor idiot who had enough nerve to wander up the cliff and practically into their headquarters. He only hoped that Kanda didn't completely butcher the poor person.

"So…just saying if Kanda did kill him, what would we do with the body?" sixty-five asked tentatively. All eyes locked on sixty-five who shuddered "Well what? We all know Kanda's going to kill whoever it is out there!"

* * *

><p>"…" the young woman hesitantly approached the large doors before her. On the doors there seemed to be a large, Stonehenge-ish like face.<p>

'_Who would live in a place like this? Where is this place anyway? Is it abandoned?'_ she wondered, heart pounding in her chest. She had been walking down a street to the local convenience store when her vision turned black and she lost consciousness, only to awaken in some strange forest.

"I wonder…" she looked up when she thought she heard something, and sure enough, she saw a young man standing on the rooftop, a sword slung over his shoulder, poised to leap down at her. She quickly backed away, suddenly scared.

* * *

><p>Kanda narrowed his eyes at the intruder. He jumped down, narrowly missing the intruder. His modified body had no problem dealing with a leap that would kill or seriously injure a normal person.<p>

"You're either stupid or gusty to waltz in here, Akuma. No matter which it is I'll still cut you open." Kanda growled, and lunged forward, Mugen bared and eager to shed blood. Kanda swung his blade in a wide horizontal arc, but the intruder's knees buckled, allowing the intruder to avoid being cut open at the chest. The intruder leaned back just as fast as Kanda had swung and struck out with their right leg.

Kanda jumped back and prepared for a second attack as the intruder caught their balance.

"I see you had impressive reflexes, Akuma, but why don't you come out and show me your true form." Kanda lifted Mugen and leaned forward on his right foot, preparing to leap forward and slice open his opponent when the intruder suddenly threw off their hood, revealing their face. It caught Kanda off guard, and when he looked at the person's face, he was slightly more shocked.

The person was a young woman, probably only a year younger than himself. She had semi-short cropped chocolate brown hair, reaching down to her shoulders, and fierce emerald green eyes. Her skin was fair, and from what Kanda assumed, she was probably slim and physically fit.

'_Well, she is kind of cute…almost cuter than Leenalee…NOnonononononononononono…what the hell am I thinking? This could be an Akuma for the sake of…no…don't lose your focus Kanda. Don't let your guard down even a little…even though she is pretty cute.'_ Kanda thought, narrowing his eyes in aggravation. It wasn't often that he thought of girls as 'cute', though occasionally there'd be one girl here or there who was fair enough to catch his cold gaze.

"Why the hell did you just attack me with a freaking sword? What's your freaking problem?" the girl yelled at him, but Kanda raised his sword again and pointed it threateningly at her.

"Do you know where you are?" he asked menacingly.

"…No idea." she said apathetically. Kanda's frown deepened as he gave her a once over. He glanced behind him at the Gatekeeper.

"Gatekeeper, do a scan. See if she's Akuma or human." Kanda ordered, causing the Gatekeeper to open his eyes and scan the young woman. She lost her balance and fell back in surprise, staring up in a mixture of shock and slight fear at the Gatekeeper's huge stone face.

"Hey woman, what's your name?" Kanda asked as the Gatekeeper scanned her.

"My…why should I answer the person who just tried to kill me?"

"Because if you don't check out as human, I'll have a very good reason to slaughter you." Kanda threatened, raising Mugen a little more so that it gleamed eerily in the moonlight. But the young woman didn't seem to be easily intimidated by Kanda's threats. Rather, she seemed defiant, ready to fight him. Kanda had to admire that a little, whether she was Akuma or human.

"She's a human alright, one with Innocence in her body." the Gatekeeper informed Kanda as he opened up the large doors, granting access.

"What? Are you serious?" Kanda whipped around to face the Gatekeeper, but the stone face had already closed its eyes and was once again silent.

"What's your name?" Kanda questioned, turning back to the young woman.

"Lita. And yours?"

"Kanda. Now come with me." and with that, Kanda turned his back to Lita and proceeded into the castle. Lita hesitantly followed him, quickening her pace to keep up with his brisk one. She silently noted that Kanda didn't seem to be a very patient or emotional person, but rather stoic, cold, and composed. And something of a jerk. Oh yeah, definitely a jerk.

As Lita followed Kanda down the high arched hallways, and past a large circular area, in which the wide walkway wrapped around the walls of the circular architectural design of this part of structure, leaving a large empty space that went down more than several stories. Lita glanced down at what seemed like a void. She couldn't see the bottom of the immense hole, and wondered just what kind of building she was in.

'_What a strange place I ended up in…I can only hope that whatever fate Kanda is leading me to, it won't be ill met. How did I even wind up here?'_ Lita thought nervously as she followed the quiet swordsman.

"Kanda, why did you accuse me of being a demon? And what's that 'Innocence' the strange face on the door mentioned?" Lita asked.

'_Come to think of it…doors shouldn't have talking faces! Ah, where the hell is this place and who are these people? Wait…so far you've just seen Kanda, but naturally, given the immensity of this place, it's alright to assume…well, considering its size, this place could house an entire army. I just hope they're all not a bunch of moody samurai freaks like the one in front of me.'_ Lita thought, trying to envision the worst case scenario, and how she'd go about dealing with it. She had little luck with imagining how she'd escape.

"Your questions will be answered soon enough." he responded coldly.

"…" Lita debated on whether she should push it, trying to decide whether or not she should try to get any answers out of someone so dangerous and moody.

"I have no idea how I got here or where I am. Don't you think I should at least be told a little bit about this place and _why the hell you tried to kill me!_"

Kanda stopped dead in his tracks, almost causing Lita to walk right into his back. He whipped around and grabbed her wrist. His fingers were cold and hard, almost like that of a corpse's. Lita instinctively twisted her wrist out of his grip, and managed to grab his forearm and bring it into a position in which the bone threatened to break with a swift, strong movement. Lita froze as Kanda tensed, and after a few moments of high tension, she released him.

"Don't grab me like that. Ever." she glared at him, but inside she was shaken to the core.

Kanda returned the glare "If you're so persistent, then fine. Akuma are monsters created from human souls by the Black Order's enemy, the Millennium Earl. Akuma are defeated and slain with a power called Innocence. The Black Order which devotes itself to finding Innocence and defeating the Millennium Earl employs Exorcists, people who can sync with Innocence and use its power."

Kanda turned his back to her and started walking again. Lita still had some unanswered questions, but at this point, decided not to push it anymore. Kanda lead her past a large set of doors, and into a large, library like room in which there were many people with white coats.

One man was wearing all white, and Lita noticed that he had the same silver badge-like cross on his outfit as Kanda did.

"Well hello there, Lita! Welcome to the Black Order, the European branch. I'm assuming that Kanda told you a little bit about Akuma and what we do here, am I correct?" the man said energetically, catching Lita off guard a little after having dealt with Kanda, who was just quiet and moody.

"Yeah. He told me about the Akuma and the Black Order's purpose, but-"

"Oh good! That saves some time right there. Well, since we know that you have some Innocence in you, you're qualified to become an Exorcist! Congratulations! Of course, you're given a choice of whether or not you want to become an Exorcist, and we'll give you some time to think about it…"

"Well…um, actually, I'm a…I have no idea how I ended up here in the first place."

"Wait…what?" the man pushed his glasses up, and inspected her as if he were seeing her for the first time.

"I was just walking somewhere, and suddenly I lost consciousness, and when I woke up I was in the forest outside of here." Lita explained nervously, feeling uncomfortable under all the stares.

"Hm…perhaps it has something to do with your Innocence. Well, whatever the case is, we ought to have Hevlaska take a look at you. Oh, how rude of me, I haven't even introduced myself yet! I'm Komui Lee, Branch Chief of the European Branch. Now then, shall we get going? Just follow me." Komui smiled, then turned and walked out of the room. Lita followed him as he led her to a break in the large hollow circle, and onto a lift that looked like a tetrahedron turned upside down with railing.

He walked over to what looked like a control panel and touched something, sending the bluish upside down pyramid-like lift down into the dark. As they descended, Komui began to talk to her.

"As you can see, our headquarters is somewhat large, so if you do decide to stay, I'll tell you now it's easy to get lost. Why in fact when I first came here, I got lost all the time and caused those who knew their way around quite a bit of trouble, hehehe…but on a different topic, Hevlaska, who stores and keeps Innocence in her body, will merely do a quick, painless check to see what kind of Innocence you have-ah! I suppose Kanda didn't tell you that there are certain kinds of Innocence, did he?"

"Um, no-"

"Well then, I might as well tell you now! There are two types of known Innocence which Exorcists use- Parasitic type Innocence, and Equipment type Innocence. Parasitic Innocence is the kind of Innocence that lives inside a host's body, giving that person a natural anti-Akuma weapon. Some but not all are born with it, and it's quite rare. It appears that you would host a Parasitic type Innocence, according to the Gatekeeper's scan." Komui explained, but then he saw the look on Lita's face.

"Oh, don't worry, despite the name, Parasitic type Innocence isn't harmful at all-well, Parasitic type Exorcists have been known to live several years less than non-Parasitic types due to how much energy the Innocence in your body is always using to sustain itself, but other than that there's nothing bad about Parasitic type Innocence." Komui smiled happily.

'…_This guy is crazier than Kanda…though Kanda wasn't really crazy, just dark and moody, and a bit antisocial. Well, probably more than a bit…'_ Lita thought as she glanced to the side, but then returned her focus to Komui.

"The other type, Equipment type, is like Kanda's sword, Mugen. Rather than inhabiting the Exorcist's body, this Innocence inhabits a weapon or some kind of inanimate object which can only be used by a certain person-its Accommodator. This is the more common form of Innocence used by Exorcists, though mind you, Exorcists don't choose Innocence-Innocence chooses them, which is why we have Finders and other Exorcists traveling, searching for Innocence across the world. Innocence can inhabit people, animals, plants, and objects, and as the Black Order, it's our job to find and protect all the pieces of Innocence out there, so as to keep it safe and use it in our battle against Akuma and the Millennium Earl." Komui finished explaining, just as the lift came to a stop in front of a large, glowing, feminine being.

Lita looked up, and felt a little bit of fear well up in her chest as she laid eyes upon the strange creature. She could think of no others words to describe the glowing, large figure covered in hair-like tendrils, and covered so heavily that most of its face, if not all save for the lips, some of the nose and mouth, was obscured completely.

"This is Hevlaska. She stores the Innocence found in the world by Exorcists and Finders in her body for safekeeping. She can also repair and check Innocence synchro rates. The higher your synchro rate, the more powerful your Innocence is." Komui explained once again. Lita could not speak, partially out of having no idea what to say to such a being without feeling stupid or foolish, and partially out of nervousness.

"…" Hevlaska reached out with her tendrils, and began to wrap then around Lita, but she fought them off, and glared at Hevlaska.

"I'm sorry, but the only way I can check your Innocence is through touch." Hevlaska explained, and then reattempted to wrap her tendrils around Lita, but this time she did it more slowly, hoping that it would help in not aggravating the young woman as before. Lita tensed visibly when Hevlaska grabbed her with her tendrils, lifting her off the lift platform.

A single tendril extended toward Lita's face, and Hevlaska rested it on the young woman's forehead.

'_Agh…no…something's…trying to get inside my head…'_ Lita grew alarmed and resisted the strange, probe-like feeling that was at the verge of her mind.

'_I'm sorry about this as well, but this is part of the procedure. I promise I'll try to be as quick as possible so as not to view your memories or emotions and thoughts.'_ a voice from the edge of Lita's mind said. It sounded distant and not very clear, as if there was static interference, but Lita could still hear Hevlaska's voice nonetheless. After a minute of hesitating, Lita lowered her guard and allowed Hevlaska in. True to her word, Hevlaska checked her Innocence as quickly as possible, trying to avoid touching upon Lita's memories and inner thoughts. Hevlaska set Lita back down on the lift, and let go of her before addressing Komui.

"This girl's Innocence…is somewhat strange. I cannot determine what type it is, or what form it takes. Too me, it seems like pure, raw power inside of her, but buried deep down inside. I have no idea what her synchro rate is either, but I can tell at least from the amount of power inside of her, that it must be very high." Hevlaska told Komui, who seemed to think it over for a moment before shrugging.

"Well nothing more can be done then." he then turned to Lita "It's your choice whether you want to join the Order or not. Exorcists are well paid and the Order takes care of all travel expenses, and in addition, you get a free room here to stay. Though, due to the nature of an Exorcists job, those outside the Order can know little to nothing about you, effectively cutting ties with almost everyone from your life, save for anyone in the Order. But no matter what you decide to do, we won't force you to join."

"On an interesting note," Hevlaska suddenly said "this girl is not from our time period, but from the future."

"…" complete silence fell upon all space within their vicinity.

"Wait…what…year…is it?" Lita asked shakily.

"…1895. It's January 6th, 1895." Komui responded after some delay.

"…"


	2. Ab initio, procedo

_Ab initio, procedo- From the Beginning, Continued_

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><p>"So, whad'ya think of the new girl? Lita was her name? She pretty cute!" Lavi laughed, putting his arms behind his head as he continued to annoy Kanda.<p>

"I don't care, honestly, and never will." Kanda practically snarled, the stupid redheaded idiot getting on his nerves as usual.

"Huh? You really mean that Yuu?" Lavi seemed genuinely surprised for once at Kanda's words, which by judging from his personality, could usually be predicted to a fair degree.

"So I take it your gay." Lavi casually said, leaning back into the couch he was seated on. Nearby, Johnny nearly choked on a bagel, Tapp spewed his coffee, Reever dropped everything he was holding, which was a huge, thirty pound stack of papers, and Leenalee and Allen both immediately focused their attention on the conversation.

"…" wordlessly, Kanda got up, drawing his blade whilst glaring more intensely than usual at Lavi.

"Oh c'mon now Yuu! It's nothing to be ashamed of, right? Gay pride, yeah! I mean, no one here would really care anyway, though-"

"…Innocence…activate." the looked in Kanda's eyes was positively vicious and held nothing less than possibly the largest amount of killer intent that anyone had ever witnessed.

"Um, Yuu? Let's not make a scene, alright? I mean, if you wanna hit me with your purse, then fine, but you don't have to take out-"

"_Listen you stupid rabbit. I. AM. NOT. GAY."_ Kanda held Mugen to Lavi's throat threateningly, glaring so hard at his comrade that it appeared he might actually burn holes through Lavi.

'_Crap. He's starting to look like the Devil again.'_ Lavi thought as he carefully breathed in.

"Okay…so I guess you don't like anyone. At all." Lavi said slowly, and relaxed when Kanda finally sheathed Mugen and sat back down again.

"Tch. That Lita girl may be a little pretty, but that's all." Kanda stated, suddenly getting up "I don't even know why I'm hanging around with you idiots. You've probably already given me brain cancer." and with that parting insult, Kanda turned on his heel and left.

"Huh. A compliment from Yuu. The sky must've fallen." the redhead laughed, taking his arms from behind his head and resting them on his lap. He glanced over at everyone else, who looked tense and slightly horrified.

"Hey what's wrong with you guys? So what if Yuu nearly threw a hissy fit over being called gay? Big deal, he probably is." Lavi chuckled "He loves me so much he hates me. Very ironic."

"Lavi…maybe next time you should…er…just not push Kanda so much. I doubt he had much fun escorting Lita here, so he was probably already in a worse mood than usual." Allen advised delicately.

"Yeah…Kanda actually did seem like he was in a worse mood than usual. Maybe he had Lita didn't rub right." Leenalee agreed, but Lavi just ignored their warnings.

"Meh. So how many of you still think Yuu is gay? C'mon, be honest about it." Lavi raised his hand, and soon was joined by the entire science division within their vicinity, and then-

"Leenalee? You think Kanda is, well-" Allen appeared somewhat flustered when his female friend shyly raised her hand as well.

"Well, it's just that-I mean-I just…I've never heard or seen Kanda call a girl cute or say that he liked anyone…so it's kind of natural to assume that he's…you know." Leenalee blushed, looking away.

Finally Allen sighed, shaking his head "I don't know what to think really. Except that he doesn't like anyone at all."

Lavi rolled his eyes "You'll see soon enough, Allen. After all, Yuu is a young man, and young men do desire at least one thing." the redhead held up one finger, his eyes gleaming.

"Yeah. Right Lavi."

Unknown to those in the room, Kanda had actually stuck around to listen to what they had to say for awhile, and heard everything about the whole-

"I can't believe even Leenalee…" Kanda muttered, but he was actually a little hurt that Leenalee would think that. For a little while, Kanda did think Leenalee was cute…though he wouldn't call it a crush or anything. He was Kanda. He didn't crush on anyone; it was the opposite way around. Kanda knew he was beautiful, and that many women, both old and young, had been captivated by his looks.

Perhaps maybe one of the reasons he thought Leenalee was cute was because of her strength, and how she didn't fawn over him like so many other girls. Then again, he didn't really know a lot of girls to begin with, though he had briefly encountered quite a few. But that was it. Briefly encountered.

As Kanda headed back towards his room, he thought about when he first came to the European branch, and when he first met Leenalee. Even then, he thought she was cute. No matter how much Kanda wanted to deny it, he couldn't entirely say that he wasn't at least of little bit jealous of the bean sprout. Kanda hated even thinking it, and he tried to convince himself otherwise.

So what if that half pint snowball haired freak spent more time with Leenalee than any other guy in the Order since he arrived? Leenalee was friends with everyone. So what if sometimes they went to town to shop together and Komui didn't get as obsessively worked up as usual when someone was with Leenalee? That didn't mean anything.

"Damn bean sprout, damn stupid rabbit…" Kanda muttered, but then caught sight of someone he knew as he approached his room.

"…You…" Kanda trailed off, looking at…at…that girl…whose name was…just…on the tip…of his…tongue.

'_Agh, what's her name? Lisa…Rita…Ta…no, none of those are it-wait! Lita!'_ Kanda finally recalled her name, or at least thought he did.

"Lita…what did they say about your Innocence?" Kanda questioned, somewhat curious as to what kind of ability she possessed.

"They can't tell. All Hevlaska told me is that I'd have a high synchro rate because of how powerful the Innocence in my body is." she responded.

"…" Kanda didn't know what to say after that, so he just went into his room and closed the door.

'_Unable to tell what kind of…Lita's Innocence must be exceptionally special. If Komui doesn't know, and Hevlaska can't tell…then what could that possibly mean? Maybe Lita…no…its' impossible…though…it might not be impossible, but it's highly unlikely that Lita would possess the Heart.'_ Kanda fell on his bed and rolled over to face the bleak stone wall. His room only had one window which was only a little wider and taller than himself.

The dark purple and blue hues were to his liking, but let little light in, which was fine with him. There was a small, meager, empty shelf near the door close to the foot of his bed, and then there was the end table which bore the lotus in the hour glass, symbolizing his life force and how much longer he had to live.

Kanda turned over and eyed a few petals at the bottom of the hourglass, their vibrant, soft pink color a sharp contrast to the dark surroundings. He narrowed his eyes to the point of closing them, thinking about his past, the Order, and his short lifespan. Kanda wasn't foolish or naive enough to think or believe that he would live much longer. From the looks of things, the war against the Akuma and Noah Clan would only intensify.

'_If so, I'll be pushed harder and might have to use the other Illusions…anything past Nigentou and it draws upon my very life force…I don't think I'll live to see the end of this war, if it even has a goddamned bloody ending.'_ Kanda thought as he opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. It wasn't long before he fell into a light slumber, wrought with doubts and worries about his future.

Though Kanda knew he wouldn't let himself die until he found that person, and wouldn't die easily period, he knew he could never contest with Time and Death itself.

* * *

><p>"So I'm Allen Walker, this is Lavi, and this is Leenalee, Chief Komui's sister."<p>

"Oh, hello, nice to meet you all. I'm Lita."

"So Lita, how about we show around a bit." Allen offered, and Lita nodded.

"Ah, sorry guys, but Bookman said he needed me, though I'll catch you later." Lavi smiled, and winked at Lita, causing her to blush lightly and shyly smile back at him.

"Okay, we'll see you later, Lavi!" Leenalee waved to her friend's retreating figure, and then turned back to the newest Exorcist.

Allen and Leenalee showed Lita the dining hall, medical wing, library, and the main part of the science division. It was then that they introduced her to the science division, and lastly, taking her to Johnny to get measured for her Exorcists uniform.

"Hello there! This'll only take a few minutes…now if you could just take off your jacket…wearing something under it? Oh good, alright then, oh! Ah, I mean, oh, that's a lovely tank top…um…yeah." Johnny suddenly turned bright red, his glasses steaming up. Some of the science guys turned to look out of curiosity, and did double takes, in some cases, triple takes.

"Oh so, Lita…do you know your, erm, bust measurements? ." the bespeckled scientist gasped, barely comprehensible.

"Um, I don't know my exact measurements…" this caused Johnny to have a massive nosebleed, already having bled profusely from his nose after Lita first took her jacket off "But I think Leenalee could just take my measurements for that, if you don't mind."

"N-No-t-t at-t-t a-al-l-l." Johnny stuttered, hands shaking as he measured her hips and upwards, trying not to screw up and take longer.

When Lita finally had her measurements finished and put on her jacket, some of the men from the science division sighed in slight disappointment. Lita ignored this and pretended as if she hadn't heard or noticed it, as did Allen and Leenalee, despite the two feeling semi awkward.

"So…um…I guess there's not really much more of the place to show you. Johnny should have your uniform done by the time you get your first mission, which will probably be tomorrow." Allen told her. Lita nodded, and thanked the Exorcists for showing her around. Though before Lita left, Leenalee brought up something that Lita had forgotten about.

"Maybe when you get back from your first assignment we can go into town and shop for some clothes for you." Leenalee offered "The Order can pay for everything since you're new."

"Oh right, thanks."

'_Clothes! Ugh, I forgot about that.'_ Lita half felt like slapping herself for not remembering something so basic. She had to keep remembering that she wasn't home, but over a thousand miles from it, and over a hundred years away from her own time.

"And if you want, you can come and hang out with us or train with us sometime." Allen offered.

"Yeah, I know Lavi would like that." Leenalee giggled, and then the Exorcists parted ways. Lita headed back to her room, since it was late and there wasn't really anything to do. She didn't feel very tired, but knew that it wouldn't hurt to get some extra sleep, especially after suddenly being confronted with this and that about Akuma and Innocence and what not.

Lita threw her jacket on her bed almost as soon as she walked in. She lay down on the bed and eyed the room. The walls were white, faintly tinged with beige, while the carpet was thinly layered, a frost-blue color. There was a single Gothic window a little taller and wider than herself, its panes were tinted pale blue and the rest of the glass was clear. Other than her bed, a small bookcase, and an end table, there was nothing else in the room, save for a print of a painting which was framed, hung on the wall opposite of the window.

The picture depicted a girl, probably not much older or younger than Lita herself, leaning over the railing of an old wood bridge and curiously peering into the stream below. It was in a forest setting, giving the picture a relaxing, nature-like feel.

'_What have I gotten myself into now? I mean I've gotten into some crazy stuff before, but this whole thing with Innocence, Exorcists, Akuma, and this Millennium Earl guy is just too much…oh Akita…what would you do if you were here? I miss you so…'_ Lita fell asleep on that thought, her sleep only slightly less restless than that of than man in the room next to her, Kanda. Little did they know of the surprises the morning would hold for the both of them.


	3. Primus Missio

_Primus Missio- First Mission_

* * *

><p>When Lita woke up that morning, she forgot for several seconds that she wasn't home, but at the Black Order in late nineteenth century Europe.<p>

"Unnn…no school-wait…oh yeah, that's right." she mumbled, turning over on her side. She got up; blinking the last bit of sleep out of her eyes, and then threw on her jacket. Someone had been nice enough to leave a comb on the sink of her bathroom, as well as soap and the basics. After a few minutes of fixing herself in the mirror, Lita was satisfied and left her room, heading down to the dining hall, which was part of the tour Allen and Leenalee had given her yesterday.

Lita managed to find her way down to the dining area, but didn't see many people. It seemed as though it was still a bit early in the morning.

'_Huh. I'm still conditioned to wake up so early after taking the early morning schedule at school. It'd be nice to actually sleep in for once and not wake up so damn early.'_ Lita thought, cursing the day her school decided to have separate schedules, at least until it was her turn in line. She didn't really know what to expect of the cook, and was a little nervous as she approached. But she managed to convince herself that he'd just be a normal chef, no one extravagant or anyone with flair-

"Well heeeelloooo there! Aren't you somthin' cute! What can I get you this mornin' honey? Oh, I almost forgot, my name's Jerry. Nice to meet you sugar."

Boy, was she wrong.

"Um, hi, my name's Lita. I g-guess I'll just have a side of scrambled eggs and a glass of orange juice." Lita said meekly. Jerry leaned over the counter, getting more than somewhat close to Lita's face.

"Are you sure that's all you'll be havin'?" he breathed

"Erm…and a waffle…with syrup?"

"Oh good!" Jerry backed away, grinning "If all your were gonna eat was a measly bit scrambled eggs and some OJ, then I woulda had to insist you at least eat something else too."

Lita blinked, and it seemed like in a matter of seconds, Jerry had seemingly magically whipped up everything she asked for.

"Oh, uh, thank you." she marveled, wondering how the man could cook so fast.

"Pleasure's all mine, darling. You take care now!" he waved his spatula, and greeted the next person in line.

Lita now faced the dilemma of finding a place to sit, but to her relief, someone familiar called her name.

"Hey Lita, over here!" Allen called, waving to her. Lita headed over to the table where Allen, Leenalee, and Lavi were all seated, eating breakfast together.

"Oh, hi guys." she greeted as she took a seat next to Lavi. Lavi grinned at her.

"Hey, I heard from Komui that he's got your first assignment ready for ya! Excited?"

"Um…yeah. Really excited."

"Oh don't worry Lita, my brother won't give you a really hard assignment, and you'll definitely have another Exorcist with you. Considering we don't really know what your Innocence does, my brother probably just wants to see if perhaps you can figure that out yourself. Innocence usually acts up around Dark Matter, which Akuma are composed of." Leenalee explained.

"Oh…so how many other Exorcists are there? Here at this branch of the Order?" Lita questioned before taking a bite of scrambled egg.

"Well, there aren't _that _many, but roughly thirty or so, including those on missions right now." Lavi answered "But there are a fair number of us."

After Lita finished breakfast and some light conversation with Leenalee, Lavi, and Allen, she went to the science department to seek out Johnny. When she did find him, she was somewhat surprise to see that he had finished her Exorcist coat.

"Oh, thanks." she blinked as he handed her the coat. She was amazed that he had completed the somewhat complex looking coat in one night.

"It was no problem, really." he blushed "I knew the chief would probably give you your first assignment by morning, so I worked most of the night-but no worries! No Exorcist should go around without his or her proper coat, after all these are man of a special material made for endurance, so they won't rip or tear easily."

Lita still felt bad that Johnny had stayed up all night to finish her coat, and put it on right then and there since she felt it would be rude not to do so.

"Thanks again. It's really nice, I can tell you must've worked really hard on this." when Lita said that, she actually meant it. The coat ended just a little below her thigh, unlike Allen and Kanda's coats which went down to above their ankles, but more like Lavi's coat. Other than that, there was nothing unusual about her coat, from what she had seen other Exorcists wearing so far.

"No really, it was no problem. It looks nice on you. And good luck with your first assignment, I'm sure you'll do well!" Johnny told her, leaving to go work on something that Reever was yelling at him about. Lita then proceeded to go onto Komui's office, where she would receive her first assignment. When she walked in, she found one of the last people she would've expected to see.

'_Kanda?'_

"Oh good, you're here!" Komui chirped "Well, then, let's get down to business! The two of you will be heading to a small town on the edge of a large forest. After taking your train and getting off at the designated stop, it's just a mile's distance to get to the town. We strongly suspect that Innocence is involved, since there have been many reports of strange occurrences in that area. We also suspect Akuma are involved, so be prepared. Other than that, everything's been taken care of, so have a nice trip!"

"…" Lita had no idea what to say, so she just followed Kanda, who wordlessly left.

When they boarded the train, Lita chose a seat opposite from Kanda, deciding it would be best not to get to close to the prickly swordsman. To say the least, he didn't seem to keen on anyone's company.

So for the duration of the trip, Lita chose to look out the window at the passing scenery, watching the European landscape with avid interest. But after awhile, Lita grew tired of the landscape and couldn't help but glance over at her stoic partner. To her surprise, she saw him (or at least she thought) sleeping. His arms were crossed, his chokuto, Mugen, tucked under one of his arms which seemed very reminiscent of a samurai. His features seemed semi relaxed, but not completely. There was still that slight downwards tugging of the lips, not quite a frown, and not close enough to say 'almost'. There was the way his brows still seemed a little scrunched, giving him the moody, angry look that he'd never given up in front of Lita, as far as she had seen.

Perhaps it was just that she had never seen him smile or show any other expression than moody and angry. But whatever it was, he still didn't look completely at ease. Though of course they were on a train, and the seats weren't exactly as comfortable as a bed.

Lita took the time to study his delicate features, blushing slightly.

'_He actually is…beautiful. It's not like I could notice when he attacked me…it was so dark, and my hood was limiting my vision a little, but now that I can see him properly and I'm not fighting for my life…he really is handsome…AAAHHH! NO LITA, DO NOT START FALLING FOR THAT EMOTIONLESS JERK! Agh, I can't believe I'm actually crushing on him…no…it can't…but he's SO GORGEOUS *mentally drools*'_

Lita squeezed her eyes shut tight, trying to erase the former thoughts from her mind. Kanda was an antisocial, moody, emotionless jerk with no regard for people's feelings. He was cold, arrogant, and the only good thing about him was his looks…and his voice…that was pretty sexy too.

'_AAARRRGGG I AM NOT THINKING THIS ABOUT HIM, AM NOT THINKING KANDA'S HOT! I. Don't. Think. That Jerk. Is. Hot.'_ Lita thought, closing her eyes and breathing deeply, but from the depths of her mind came- _'You don't think, you KNOW that boy's hotter than a shonen bishie on fire, and THAT'S SOME SMOKIN SHIT RIGHT THERE 3!'_

Lita buried her face in the sleeves of her Exorcist coat and groaned.

'_Not now stupid-perverted-fan girl-part of my mind! Kanda is a first class asshole with all the victims and enemies to prove it! He's nothing more than a pretty jerk who's…who's…oh who am I kidding! I actually LIKE antisocial, cold guys like him! Ugh, what is WRONG with me?'_ Lita continued her inner conflict, until she heard one of the ticket checkers call out the station name and the next stop.

"Oh hey, the next stop is ours, and it should only take us another hour to get there more or less, so were getting closer." Lita thought aloud as she took her sleeves away from her face. As the train started to move again, she watched Kanda carefully, to try to determine if he had woken up yet. Lita moved from her seat to his seat, sitting next to him and studying him carefully.

Lita decided that it would be best not wake Kanda up just yet, but rather wait until they got closer to the station which they were supposed to get off at. During that time, Lita studied his features more closely, but soon found herself regretting it when she realized that it was only worsening her crush on him.

She kept checking out the window to see if she could see the next train station, and after looking out the window for what seemed like the umpteenth time, she finally saw the station coming into view. Lita was about to wake up Kanda, but stopped for a moment, hoping that he wasn't the kind of person who bit the head off of whoever woke them up.

'_Ah, well, he's gotta wake up sometime and it's now or never.'_ she thought, and then tapped him lightly on the shoulder.

"Kanda. Kanda." she whispered, and tapped him again. Kanda opened his dark eyes and looked at her, his eyes narrowing.

"Why are you sitting next to me?" his tone wasn't the least bit friendly, but exactly the opposite.

'_Yep, a first class jerk.'_

"You were sleeping, and I woke you up. We'll be arriving at the station in a few minutes." Lita explained as she sat up, brushing off his menacing tone as if it were nothing. She was sorely tempted to reply sarcastically to his cold, menacing remarks, to show that in defiance, she wasn't the least bit intimidated by him. So what if he had a sword? She was trained in soujutsu, multiple forms of taijutsu, and even a bit of swordplay.

"..." Kanda didn't reply, but merely got up after her. When they got off, they started off towards the village, but ran into a small problem.

"Why are you heading that way? Planning on getting lost? Honestly, I wouldn't mind." was the first thing Kanda said to Lita when she could've sworn that she was going in the right direction, opposite of his heading.

"You're the one in the wrong." Lita replied simply, once again biting back from sarcastic remarks. Most importantly, above all, if she couldn't activate her Innocence when they faced Akuma, Kanda would be the one responsible for saving her life. At least hopefully he would. She didn't want to take any risks and start and friction with him, despite their current relationship.

"Fine. Don't come screaming when you're being chased by Akuma and getting killed. You're not my problem, woman."

"My name is Lita."

"It doesn't matter. Why should I take note of your name when you won't even live a full month? You're weak and naïve, unfit to be an Exorcist." he replied coldly.

"Listen you blue haired samurai freak, I don't care what you think, but if you get your ass lost in the woods, don't expect me to come and drag you out. You're nothing but a first class jerk that can't even tell north from south and still acts like a bitchy little know-it-all." Lita finally snapped, and stormed off before Kanda even had a chance to open his mouth.

"Good for nothing…ugh!" she muttered as she stormed off. Within a few minutes of leaving the station and following the rutted dirt road, someone came after her.

"Oi! Woman!" Kanda called after her. Out of partial curiosity, Lita stopped and waited for Kanda to catch up to her.

"Listen, I don't care what you say, but Komui will have my head if I let the Akuma take your Innocence." Kanda told her coldly, but Lita smirked a little, causing the Japanese teenage to grow more irritated "What's with that smug look, woman?"

"That's a great excuse for 'I might actually care about what happens to you and after I asked at the station I realized I was wrong and you were right about directions.'"

"Shutup."

Lita tried and failed badly to suppress her laughter, only further irritating Kanda. He glared at her, but Lita acted as if it were nothing. Kanda wondered why she wasn't as intimidated by him as most other people were when they first met him. As he walked by her side in silence, he pondered over several explanations.

Just as Komui had told them, the village was about an hour's walk from the train station, nestled shallowly in the woods nearby, which were part of a much larger forest. It gave the two Exorcists time to think things over a little bit, mostly about each other. Eventually though, Lita broke the silence once they reached the edge of the woods.

"Kanda? Do you think the Akuma might have taken the village already?" Lita inquired quietly. Her partner made an annoyed sound, as if what she had asked was stupid.

"I don't know, but you should expect it." he answered shortly. Lita was about to ask him another question, when he suddenly stopped. Lita noted how he tensed, wisely keeping her mouth shut and not asking what was wrong. She listed hard, trying to detect the telltale sounds of an enemy shifting into striking position. Lita was experienced with these sort of situations, having fought and been ambushed several times.

_Hoo Hoo_

Lita heard an owl, but that was it. She couldn't hear anything other than that, aside from her own, quiet breathing and the occasional rustle of the tree branches as they were shaken gently by the wind.

"…It's nothing." Kanda muttered finally, taking his hand of the hilt of Mugen. Lita looked at him questioningly.

"Did you really hear something?"

"I thought I did, but it could've been the owl, or the wind. I'm slightly surprised that you knew not to speak and ask 'what'."

That caught Lita off guard. It sounded like a compliment, but coming from Kanda, she didn't know if that was possible.

"I picked it up somewhere. Second nature now." she answered truthfully. Having dabbled in work requiring multiple forms of self defense, offense, skilled marksmanship, and covert operations, such situations weren't entirely strange to her.

The two Exorcists continued on in silence, both more alert than before, now that their foe or foes had more cover within the forest. As they walked, Lita noted that it didn't seem as if anyone had passed through on this trail recently, and she knew from looking at that map in Komui's office, that there was only one defined route out of the village. Which left only a few conclusions.

Either the villagers had escaped the Akuma attack straight through the woods, avoiding the only known path, or they had succumbed to the Akuma, or the Akuma simply hadn't made their move yet. Lita didn't know very much about Akuma, but Allen had explained some important things to her about them, and what to possibly expect during an encounter with such a creature.

A humble wooden sign signaled the entrance to the small village, ending their roughly hour long trek on foot. Glancing around, Lita saw no one in the large, single lane of a street that shot out into the woods at the very end of the rows of buildings. The village was laid out like many other small villages that dotted rural Europe. There was a large, circular area where there seemed to be a larger concentration of shops and important buildings, which emptied out in four directions, each direction shooting out in the form of a fairly wide path. There were narrower paths, streets connecting with each other between the few rows of buildings. Overall, it was quaint yet fairly advanced for a rural village. It seemed more like a small town.

'_But no one's here…'_ Lita thought. There wasn't a single soul in the streets, nor was there any evidence of life in the buildings. Lita had been to cities that had been abandoned in times of war, but never before had she been in a town that seemed so eerie. The fact that there could be twisted demonic monsters bent on killing all that was before them, lurking right around the corner didn't exactly help either.

"AAAAGGGGHHHHHH!" a twisted, frantic cry rang throughout the town and surrounding woods, echoing and bouncing back off the buildings and trees. Kanda and Lita barely exchanged a glance before rushing off towards the source of the cry. Lita had a tense, twisted feeling in her stomach, knowing that this would be her first time facing off with an Akuma. And it certainly didn't help that she had no idea what her Innocence did or how to use it, coupled with the fact that she didn't want to look like a complete idiot in front of Kanda.

Lita followed behind Kanda, who was remarkably fast and agile, leaping over fallen tree trunks and branches like an elf. Lita had no trouble following him, thanks to years of training and keeping herself fit. She jumped over a fallen log, coming up beside him. She could tell that they were nearing the source of the cry.

They stopped in a clearing, Kanda suddenly halting while Lita skidded roughly two feet before coming to a stop. She eyed their surroundings, searching for the slightest trace of movement. Somewhere in the woods, the owl could be heard again. The trees leaves rustled softly.

And then crying, barely audible, soft sobbing could be heard from one of the nearby trees. Lita, being closer to the sound, carefully approached the tree, keeping light on her feet and alert, should she suddenly need to leap back. Cautiously, the young woman peered around the tree to find a-

"Chibi?" she whispered incredulously. It was no lie, and no illusion. There was most definitely a doll sized girl before her, in the form of an adorable chibi.

"Lita, behind you!" Kanda yelled out to his comrade. Lita didn't need to be told twice. Without even thinking, she scooped up the chibi-girl in less than a second and leapt to the right, narrowly dodging some sort of ray or beam.

"What the…!" Lita looked a few feet away from where she had been standing, to see a large, but childish looking…thing. It could resemble a monster, just a very childish one. The creature had a large head, marked with a pentacle, the sign of an Akuma, stubby horns, and a body that seemed relatively small in comparison to its oblong shaped head.

"Oh no fair, and I thought I might add an Exorcist to my list of chibified victims!" the creature spoke in a shrill, grating, but sickly sweet voice. Kanda drew out Mugen in the blink of an eye, and held it ready.

"Prepare to die, Akuma!" he growled, leaping towards the monster. However, despite its size, the Akuma moved faster than Kanda must've expected it to, because it dodged his lunge and danced behind him. The Akuma opened its mouth just as Kanda turned around. The dark eyes of the Japanese Exorcist widened momentarily, before narrowing, and then disappearing altogether. Kanda leapt out of the way with mere seconds to spare, avoiding the purplish colored beam that Akuma produced from its mouth.

However, it seemed as if the monster wasn't through just yet. The beam hit the ground, but reflected off the pine needle covered earth, redirecting itself towards Kanda, who was in mid air and helpless. Time seemed to slow dramatically as Lita moved forward vainly to try to assist her comrade, even though it was too late. The beam struck Kanda, though it didn't have much impact, Kanda was still sent flying back several yards, and lost his balance in mid air due to the beam, causing him to land ungracefully on his back.

"Now for you!" the Akuma sang in its shrill voice. Lita tensed, preparing to jump to the side, hoping that the trajectory of the Akuma's strange beam could only be shot forward. But unfortunately for the Exorcist, it's trajectory wasn't limited to a forward attack.

Lita had jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding the pink colored beam, when it bounced off the earth and hit her. She let out a small gasp as it hit her in the side, knocking her flat on her back as it had done to Kanda. She was dazed, but only for a split second. Before the Akuma could even blink, the short haired Exorcist was back on her feet, unharmed and unaffected by its power.

"WHAT? You're…no, that's impossible…it can't be…argh! This isn't the end Exorcist! You may have won this time, due to your strange Innocence, but it won't be so next time!" the Akuma hissed ominously before flying into the dense, woven line of trees.

Lita silently cursed her inability to harm the Akuma, and letting it escape. How the hell could she do anything when she didn't even have a weapon? Her Innocence had yet to make itself apparent, and the young woman was starting to have doubts as to whether she actually possessed any combat-worthy Innocence.

'_Maybe I have to see someone use their Innocence…but no, that'd be stupid. Damnit, where the hell is Kanda?'_ Lita thought, but stopped searching for her comrade, remembering the small, chibi-like figure that she had picked up. But then the Akuma had attacked her…

Quickly, Lita went back to the spot where she had fallen, and sure enough, there was a small figure, not even a foot tall, lying in the dirt. Lita couldn't discern any notable features or traits due to only having the moon and stars for light, but could make out that it was a girl. Lita picked up the chibi-girl, discovering that she was unconscious. Lita carried the girl with her as she went to search for Kanda again, going over to the spot where she estimated that he had landed.

Lita called her comrade's name several times softly, but after getting no response, she felt a prick of worry stab at her insides.

"Kanda!" she hissed, searching over the area where she'd seen him go flying. She heard a rustle, and followed the sound. It lead her to a small bush, where she saw another chibi-ish figure. Only this figure was-

"Kanda!" she gasped, nearly dropping the girl in her arms. The blue haired man, or rather now, chibi, glared up at her with large brown-grey eyes.

"_What, woman?_ Wait, how'd you get so tall?" he frowned, before glancing around at his surroundings. His confused expression changed to one of fear, and then to that of anger.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?"


	4. Crede quod habes, et habes

_Crede quod habes, et habes- Believe that you have it, and you do._

* * *

><p>Lita cringed back slightly at Chibi-Kanda's outburst. She hesitantly reached out to pick him up out of the shrub, but he swatted her hands away with his stubby arms.<p>

"I'll be fine on my own, woman!" he snapped, pulling himself out from the branches and leaves of the shrub. He hopped down onto the ground and teetered for a second, before regaining his balance. Currently, he was only about eight or so inches tall. He started toward the village, and Lita followed him, at least for awhile. Due to his shortened stature, he was being seriously outpaced by his companion.

"Damnit woman! Don't walk so fast!" Kanda shouted at her. Lita stopped and looked back at the chibi-ized Kanda. He stopped when he caught up to her, glaring up at her. Lita stooped down suddenly, scooped up Kanda, and took off again.

"Woman! Listen to me-" he protested, but was ignored and after some time, silenced when Lita covered his mouth with her hand. Within a few minutes of stealthy, brisk walking, Lita came back into the village and carefully inspected the place from where she stood, eyeing every building and street.

The wind blew and rustled the branches of the surrounding trees. An owl hooted. Somewhere, a can or bottle clacked against the earth, distantly. Kanda swore at her, his insults muffled by her hand. But otherwise, everything was silent. There was only that ambiance, and nothing else. All windows were dark, void of movement or signs of life.

"Kanda." she whispered "Any guesses?"

Lita uncovered the chibified Exorcist's mouth, allowing him to speak. He observed the scene before him silently. Most likely, it was an Akuma attack. But yet…something didn't sit right with him. Somewhere, he could still feel life. If there was anything that idiot Tiedoll had taught him, it was to be able to reach out with one's own energy, and feel that which was hidden. And Kanda could feel multiple life forces around him, as if the townspeople were still here.

"Check the first building." he suggested. Lita moved forward towards the closest building, but stopped. She vaguely recalled having seen a sign in what appeared to be the town square. With that destination in mind, Lita changed course, puzzling and angering her fellow Exorcist.

"Hey! Woman, we're going the wrong way!" he stated, glaring at her. If Lita had heard him, she paid no heed to his words. Kanda grumbled at her quietly, seeing as how there was nothing else to do. He thought Lita had gotten hit by the beam that the Akuma fired as well, but that would be impossible. If she did get hit, she'd be small like he was. But…it was possible that her Innocence could've…

Lita continued down the main street, and found the sign in looked like the town square. The sign pointed out several places of importance, one of them being-

'_The mayor's house.'_ she thought, examining which way the arrow pointed on the sign. She silently hoped that the mayor's home wouldn't be hard to miss. Kanda examined the sign as well, and caught on to what she was thinking when she set out in the direction that the mayor's home was, according to the sign. He had to give her credit, it was probably smarter than breaking into some random person's home, or the first building they saw. There was a good chance they might find something that could be of use to them, or some sort of information. But what bothered him was that Lita hadn't said anything about her idea, but just gone and done it.

"Woman, next time tell me what you're thinking before you go and do it." he hissed angrily. Lita, feeling like she was being nagged (and in a sense, she was), pointedly ignored Kanda. The blue haired Exorcist frowned more deeply.

"Woman, listen to me when I talk! I'm trying to tell you something-"

"_I know. _Now stop bothering me, you're whining isn't of any help." she cut in. Kanda had to bite his tongue to keep from yelling at her, momentarily surprising himself at the restraint which he was giving to Lita. Normally he would lash out at a person more harshly, accompanied by the threat of Mugen. But currently, Mugen was slightly bigger than a toothpick, and didn't seem to sharp either, rendering it harmless. But Kanda realized something, only seconds after resolving to threaten Lita later.

They way she had snapped at him, irritably, like a teen snapping at an elder, gave him the impression of an underlying rebellious nature. Of course this was typical in teens, but the fact that she snapped so quickly, especially at her own partner, was interesting. Kanda stored this nugget of information away for later, to use possibly to gain more insight on Lita (not that he cared about her, but it was always good to get a feel for someone, especially someone who had threatened to break his arm during their first meeting), or to use to antagonize her. He liked the idea of the latter. Lita, unlike Allen, didn't seem to mind the name Kanda had given her as much, and he found it harder to land a hit during verbal arguments.

By the time Kanda had finished his thinking, he realized that they were now standing outside of 'Mayor Lemmington's House', according to the sign staked close to the large building. Two stories, painted brightly, and out of the way of the mainstream, it seemed like an ideal home to most, or perhaps even a dream home. Large brick walls covered in ivy surrounded the property, which was accessible by a locked, tall, iron wrought gate.

"Kanda, hang onto my shoulder. I'm going to climb over." Lita said quietly. She lifted Kanda up to her shoulder, and for the first time, Kanda noticed that she had been carrying something or someone else. He didn't have time to question what or who it was, as she slipped it into the hood of her coat. The brown haired Exorcist then proceeded to jump with surprising agility to the top of the seven had a half foot brick wall, and then jumped down with ease and grace. Kanda was very mildly surprised at the level of athleticism she displayed and made a not to observe her displays of such in the future. It would be nice to have a semi-tolerable training partner.

'_Wait, semi-tolerable? I've hardly known her, and she could turn out to be a complete bitch. Then again, she doesn't seem too bad, argh! What the hell am I thinking? I don't even _like_ this woman in the slightest bit, so why am I being so…so…'_ Kanda didn't want to admit that despite their previous disagreements and the way they had first met, that he might have liked Lita a little bit. Even mentally, he refused to admit it. But he quickly turned his attention away from his thoughts and feelings about Lita when they were halfway up the red brick path which lead to the front door of the mayor's house. Or mansion. To Kanda, despite his size, he could tell from its lavish and detailed decoration, that the person who owned the house obliviously was wealthy. Which would make sense, considering who lived there.

Lita walked up to the front door, and hesitantly pushed on it. To her surprise, and dismay, it opened. She hesitated at the threshold, her instincts screaming 'trap'. But apparently Kanda's instincts were speaking differently.

"Go in, woman! What are you waiting for, the sun to come up so you can see?" he urged "Afraid of tripping and hurting yourself?" he mocked, but Lita forced herself not to allow his comments to get to her.

"Go in. Now. What are you waiting for? Are you afraid of the dark? Going to wet yourself? You're pathetic." Kanda continued, but Lita tried to assess the situation at hand whilst ignoring Kanda's jibes.

"Go in, now. I'm telling you to go in or else, woman. Or are you too stupid to understand?" Kanda was getting desperate now, and was fumbling to get something to anger her. He remembered from her irritation from before, and in the most condescending voice he could manage, he told her "Just go in Lita. It's alright, I'm here with you."

Silence.

'_This is just unnerving. By now even Lavi would've snapped. No one's ever been this quiet and unresponsive, and just taken my insults without a word. Well, there's a few people, but I didn't expect Lita to be one of them.'_ he thought, surprising himself slightly when he referred to Lita by her name, even if it was in thought. Generally, he referred to people in thought by what he called them verbally.

Without a word, Lita made a 'shh'ing motion to Kanda, then stealthily snuck around to the side of the house. She stopped by a small glass window under the deck which wrapped around the large house. She crawled under the deck, and extracted a thin sliver or metal from somewhere in her pants pocket, and set to work on the bronze colored lock which sealed the window shut. Kanda watched, intrigued, as Lita picked it successfully and quickly as well. She took the lock off and opened the window, shifted and turned around, before dropping into to room feet first. She took out a small flashlight, also hidden somewhere within the confines of her pocket, and flicked it on, revealing a typical looking basement.

A cement floor, and clutter stacked upon clutter. Lita covered the flashlight with her hand partially, to control and dim the amount of light. She found the stairs leading up into the house and followed them, picking the lock on the door there, impressing Kanda mildly again. Lita pushed the door open slowly, to avoid creaking, and stepped forward. She instantly noticed a dim source of light coming from a room deeper in the house, which could explain why they hadn't seen any light from the windows.

Lita moved with expert and practiced grace, as to not alert anyone who might be in that room. The chibified Exorcist on her shoulder grudgingly admired her skill and the fact that she didn't just waltz in, acknowledging for the first time that it could have very well been a trap and that rushing in was more than a bit brash.

The female Exorcist stopped right by the edge of the archway frame, which lead into a spacious room that was the living room. Voices could be heard from within, faintly.

"How could she have known…?"

"Did she know it was a trap?"

"There was nothing to give it away…"

"Now what?"

There was a murmur of collective voices, now audible. Lita peered around the edge of the archway, not entirely sure what to expect, but what she saw caught her off guard.

'_Chibis? Wait, these must be chibified victims of that Akuma! I guess they thought I was the Akuma in disguise…'_ Lita thought as she listened to the voices. She took Kanda off her shoulder, holding him before her.

"_You go in first. They might panic when they see me."_ she mouthed silently. Kanda narrowed his eyes.

"_Why?"_ he mouthed back

"_Because they thought I was the Akuma! Now go in there!"_

Kanda stared at her. Lita narrowed her eyes _"Forget it. You're too incompetent."_

That pushed Kanda far enough. He squirmed out of her grip, jumping down to the floor with a soft thump. The voices suddenly hushed at the sudden noise. Kanda went into the room, causing a short-lived commotion. Lita listened to him as he explained everything, and Lita took that time to remove the chibi girl from the hood of her coat. She held the girl with both hands, now able to study her more closely.

She was a long haired redhead, with freckles even as a chibi. Her skin was somewhat paler than Lita's and she was wearing the standard fashion for an upper class young woman of her time period. The Exorcist estimated she must've been about her age or maybe a bit younger, but not much.

"And my companion is just around the corner." Lita heard Kanda say, knowing that was her cue. She stepped out of the shadows, and into the living room. The entire room was nearly full of chibis, making it appear as if the whole town was there, which was possible. A cry rose up from a chibi standing on the glass coffee table in between the two expensive leather couches which faced each other. This chibi appeared to be a middle aged man with ring of dark red hair, surrounding his bald spot. He wore the ornate clothing of the wealthy, a symbol of status and power, and was wearing a monocle.

"My daughter! My sweet daughter, Abriska!" he cried, nearly running off the edge of the coffee table, but a farmer-ish looking chibi caught him.

"Abriska! My dear child, Abriska!" another chibi cried, this one female. She was blonde and pretty, and wore ornate clothing as well.

"Oh, this is your, er, daughter?" Lita asked awkwardly, setting the chibi in her hands on the coffee table, where the two panicky chibis gathered. The girl finally seemed to rouse. She looked around dazedly, obliviously confused as to how she had gotten to this place.

"Mother? Father? I…I…How did I…?" Abriska looked about, trailing off.

"Oh, it's alright dearest! You're safe now!" the blonde chibi, Abriska's mother, crooned, hugging her daughter. Her father held her comfortingly as well "Yes, yes, all's right now."

Abriska shifted and twisted, as if looking for something, until her eyes fell on Lita.

"You…you're the one who saved me." she made as if to stand, but in her weakened state, she couldn't, so she settled for bowing her head in gratitude "Many thanks, stranger. I owe you my life."

"You! You saved Abriska's life?" Abriska's father questioned.

"Erm, well, if you call finding her in the middle of the woods and brining her back here saving her life, then yeah, I guess." Lita replied, shrugging uncomfortably. Sobbing could be heard.

"Oh thank the Blessed Lord. Thank you so much-" the mother stopped, looking up at the Exorcist.

"Oh, I'm Lita, and my…companion, is Kanda."

"Oh thank you so much Lita!" she sobbed.

"Ah, how rude of me!" the father chibi exclaimed, rising to his feet. He fixed his coat a bit, and coughed once or twice to clear his throat.

"I am Johnathon Lemmington, mayor of this town. This is my wife, Veronica, and our daughter, who you rescued, Abriska. I'm terribly sorry about earlier, I suppose you saw through our trap."

Lita nodded.

"Again, my deepest apologies. We thought you to be that wretched monster that cursed us all like this…not a single person remains who hasn't been affected so, save for you. The monster appeared roughly three weeks ago, and we realized too late, for the fiend had already victimized more than half of our town's population. The only thing we could do after was band together and hide from that monster…" the mayor explained.

"Have you noticed any other monsters like it? Any strange occurrences lately?" Kanda questioned before Lita could, coming up to her side.

"Hm? No, not really, thought the Forest Shrine…"

"Forest Shrine?"

"Yes, the Forest Shrine." Veronica said "It's a sort of sacred temple a ways into the forest. It was said to have been built solely for the purpose of housing a divine power which our most distant ancestors, who started this town, found. It's kept our town safe and let us prosper over the years, at least until that wretched monster showed up." she explained. Lita nodded in understanding.

'_The divine power must be the Innocence. That explains why the Akuma showed up.'_ Lita thought.

"Alright, are there any Finders here?" Lita asked, and almost immediately, two cloaked figures tumbled forward. They both wore the same uniform as the Finders that Lita had seen briefly during breakfast at the Black Order.

"Right here! I'm Andrew, and this is Paum." the first Finder, slightly pale skinned, introduced a darker Finder with a diamond tattoo on his face.

"What the hell were you two doing?" Kanda nearly yelled at them. The two Finder's flinched and cowered from his wrath.

"W-We ran into the Akuma, and before we knew it…" Andrew said shakily, and Paum nodded, backing his fellow Finder. Kanda looked like he wanted to yell at them some more, but he didn't.

"Che. Great. So now we have two Finder's who are more worthless than ever, and untrained Exorcist with no idea on how to use her Innocence-" the looks of hope on the Finder's faces were dashed out completely. This didn't escape the notice of Kanda.

"That's right. Headquarters sent you a worthless, untrained Exorcist. Though, maybe if you pray hard enough, God will save-"

"Enough." Lita's eyes flashed dangerously "Enough, Kanda. You make it sound like I'm weak, but you know from firsthand experience that I'm not." Lita straightened up to her full height.

"We're going to come up with a plan together to defeat the Akuma. I may not know how to use my Innocence-yet-but I will find a way. _Crede quod habes, et habes_. Believe that you have it, and you do. We'll defeat the Akuma, which should dissipate its power, returning everyone to normal."

"Alright, but there's one flaw with that, woman. _The Akuma's gone._" Kanda pointed out.

"Yes, but for a day at most, right? It'll come back to try to retrieve the Innocence. And I _was_ hit by that weird beam-" many gasped at this "but unaffected by it, most likely due to my Innocence. I doubt it has any offensive capabilities, save for that. So even if it does appear again, I'm in no immediate danger." Lita argued.

"Yeah? And what if that Akuma comes back with more Akuma, Level Ones and maybe even a Level Two or Three."

"I'll deal with it." Lita said boldly "That's the only thing I can do, is fight them."

"Che." was Kanda's only response.

"So…what about the plan?" Lita was almost startled when she heard that voice. She turned to its source and laid eyes upon Paum.

"Well…the Akuma most likely won't show up again tonight. Maybe it'll show up in the evening or after dark tomorrow again…"

"Yes, the fiend often showed up after dark." Johnathon added in.

"But Kanda and I should patrol around the town and in the forest in the morning and afternoon, just to be cautious." Lita said, the others nodding in agreement.

"Oh, you both must be exhausted! Please excuse my terrible manners-er, if you could just pick me up, yes, I'll show you to a room you and your friends can share." the mayor piped up, and led Lita, Kanda, and the Finders to an unoccupied room on the second floor. Lita thanked the mayor and took him back downstairs, then retired to her room.

The room was that of a typical guestroom in a wealthy, upper class person's house. There was a double bed with expensive sheets of fine linen and silk, and thick, comfy blankets. The head board was ornately and delicately carved to depict a pack of running deer. There were several oil paintings and prints adoring the walls, a tapestry, several rugs of Oriental origins, and a large stone fireplace. There were many other decorations such as vases and various trinkets appropriate for such a room, but Lita paid them little heed. She suddenly felt exhausted.

The encounter with the Akuma hadn't impacted her as it did the others, but nonetheless, it was still slightly frightening. Mixed in with the semi-uncomfortable train ride (as train seats in the late nineteenth century weren't as comfy as the Amtrak or BART seats from the trains of Lita's time), having to deal with Kanda, and worrying about tomorrow.

"Oi. Woman." Lita opened her eyes which she had closed after flopping down on the bed.

"What?" she asked grumpily, eyeing Kanda.

"Why does everyone look so…?" he trailed off. Lita understood what he meant, and despite her sudden fatigue, she smirked.

"Take a look in the mirror." Kanda glared at her as if this were an insult, but looked in the mirror nearest to him despite that. His adorable, already large, eyes widened comically.

"_What the fu-_"

"Keep it down. I'm trying to sleep." Lita interjected, turning on her side. Kanda glared at the figure, hopping down off the dresser which he had been atop, and then hopping onto the bed.

"Woman…explain, now."

"What is there to explain? Did you honestly think that your size was the only thing that changed, that you were an exception?"

"What's with you being so tired all of a sudden?"

"Adrenaline crash, probably. Our mission hasn't gone very smooth to say the least." Kanda could sympathize slightly with her on the first part of her answer. He understood what it was like to fight almost first thing getting off the train, or before your reached your destination, and then having to deal with everything from casualties, to annoying Finders, to annoying locals or people in general…and then finally, when you rested, falling asleep a few seconds after your head hit the pillow.

"Well get used to it woman. If you fall behind, don't expect me to aid you." he said gruffly.

"Oh and what happened to not letting the Akuma getting my Innocence?"

"…Che." Kanda folded his arms, turning his head to the side for several minutes, and then looking back. When he did, Lita was already asleep.

'_It'd be good to get some sleep before the morning.'_ he thought with resignation, and managed to find a safe, comfortable place on the pillow that Lita's head wasn't resting on. He fell asleep on that, not too soon after he had lay down. After some time the Finders settled down as well and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

><p>"<em>Akita?" she called. A young man, about seventeen or eighteen, turned to face her. He was cute, good looking, perhaps not exceptionally so, but still, he was cute. His brown and black streaked hair was smoothed back partially, ending in tips, while his bangs hung on the sides of his face and above his hazel eyes. He was slim yet well built, athletic looking. <em>

"_Akita…" she choked "I…I…"_

_He smiled and walked up to her, cupping the side of her face with his hand. Tears spilt down her face as she shuddered and sobbed, embracing the young man._

"_O-Oh A-k-ki-t-ta, I-I'm-m s-so s-s-s-so-r-ry." she sobbed, clutching his jacket desperately, willing this to be reality, wishing so hard that Akita was really here, with her. She felt sick to her stomach as the past grief welled up again, rising up from her stomach to her heart, to her throat, and taking form in the shuddering sobs, the terrible wailing. She cried and cried, for what seemed like forever._

_At last, she stopped crying long enough to wipe her eyes and look into Aktia's eyes, examine the fine details of his face, and the gentle kindness that was present there. The ever-caring, gentle nature that he had shown towards her, with sincerity unlike any other that she had encountered in her life. God, he was beautiful. Beautiful, strong, proud, firm…all these things described him. _

_She glanced down at her right hand, and saw that there was no scar there, were there had previously been. Her tear stained eyes widened as she gasped._

"_The scar…that means…you're…" she looked at him, smiling suddenly, her eyebrows coming together "You _are_ alive!"_

_But Akita shook his head sadly. _

"_Wha…wait, what-!" she cried, but she was no longer grasping anything. Her hands were empty, as was the space in front of her and around her. All that remained was a pile of ashes, the remains of her lover, her fiancé, Akita. Hands shaking wildly, lips trembling, she looked down at her right hand. _

"_**NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!**__" she screamed, clutching her right hand. There was a large, white scar there, slashed across the palm of her hand, an ever present reminder of Akita's death, his final sacrifice for her. Akita was gone, Akita was dead, and that was final._

"_Nn-n-no-o-o-oooooo…" she moaned, covering her face with her hands, both scarred and unscarred, doubling over from the intense emotional pain that inflicted her._

"_Akita." she whispered his name one final time, and then the darkness closed in and swallowed her up, mind, body, and grief, her angst and sadness and guilt. She was blissfully swallowed whole by the crushing darkness, ending the pain, if only momentarily._

* * *

><p>Kanda awoke to a rather strange situation. He had been sleeping against something soft and warm, when suddenly his pillow started shaking. Pissed off that he had been forcibly awoken, he got up ready to shout at the woman. Or at least he tried to. After staring at black and white cloth and a hint of dull silver, he finally realized he'd been sleeping against Lita's chest. That explained several things instantly…but…<p>

Kanda had woken up, prepared to shout at her. Then, after realizing that he had been sleeping, nestled against her chest, he had blushed furiously and been prepared to scream insults at her and berate her for being a stupid woman. But finally, he saw her tear streaked face, and couldn't do it.

"Akita…" she mumbled, shifting restlessly in her sleep. Kanda inspected her for a few moments, and then turned his back to her. If she wanted to cry, that was her problem. If she wanted to mutter her boyfriend's name in her sleep or whatever, then that was her own business.

Just as Kanda was about to lay back down and try to get some sleep, he heard a strangled cry. He turned back to Lita, only to see her face showing pain, her tears falling more steadily. Something about seeing her like that sparked something in Kanda's chest. What was it? Pain? Annoyance? Guilt?

"Damn woman." he muttered as he went back to her sleeping form, and did his best to wipe away most of her tears with the bed cloth. He convinced himself that he was doing it because he didn't want to have to look at her when she was so miserable, because it annoyed him. He disliked miserable, weak people.

Another whimper came from her throat, and then, for awhile, she was quiet. The tears had stopped, much to Kanda's relief. He quickly glanced over at the Finder's, who were oblivious to the whole thing, and still sleeping.

Kanda eyed Lita for awhile, taking the time to study her features. He noticed a large, white scar slashed on her right palm. He looked at the details of her face, her hair, her body. He was studying her so intently, that he was almost startled when she finally stirred.

"K-Kanda?" she whispered, coughing.

"Ah. Wake up woman, we need to do our morning round." he told her, hopping off the bed to wake up the Finders. Lita coughed again, touching her face, which felt slightly damp, with either tears or sweat, and she guessed both.

'_Strange…I thought…'_ she wondered, drawing her hand away from her face, glancing at her right palm, at the scar that had been marked there into her flesh. Oddly, though, she could've sworn that she was crying in her sleep. After Akita had…died…it had been an average nightly occurrence to wake up screaming, crying, sweating madly. But…it almost felt…as if someone had…

'_Did Kanda…no, most likely not. I know I cried in the dream, so it just must feel like I…'_ she shook her head silently, getting up and preparing to leave the room.

Just as the female Exorcist had said, she and Kanda patrolled the town and some parts of the forest in the morning and afternoon, but their efforts were met with no success. During these patrols, Kanda would sit on her shoulder as she walked, seeing as how he could no longer keep pace with her (and whenever reminded of this by anyone, he would draw Mugen threateningly, despite it being chibified as well, and made blunt and soft).

However, things went differently on their evening patrol.

Lita set out this time with a messenger-style leather bag that the mayor had lent her, so she could carry the two Finders, Andrew and Paum. Kanda refused to share bag space with the Finders, and also claimed that 'being shoved into a bag' was humiliating and degrading, so he continued to sit on Lita's shoulder.

"Woman…" Kanda warned suddenly after they walked only an eight of a mile into the forest. Lita stopped, listening hard. She heard a rustle, as if something were moving between the trees.

"Akuma?" she breathed. Kanda didn't reply, but continued to listen intently. Lita wondered if it was only a deer, almost hoping that it was just a dear. But deer didn't bump into trees. And they didn't crush branches either. At least not in the way that Lita heard.

Something appeared in the edge of her vision, as she heard Kanda yell something at her, something she didn't quite catch.

The whole moment in itself seemed surreal, as if she were dreaming vividly, still back at the mansion.

As the thing entered her field of vision fully, she felt her body jolt with shock and possibly disgust. The Akuma was large, taller than a man and just as wide as it was tall. A tortured face stuck to the grayish mottled ball possessed stripped horns, further accenting the appearance of a monster. But what disturbed her the most were the gun-like protrusions stick out all over its body.

'_So this is an Akuma…'_

Lita stared at it dazedly, but snapped out of her daze when all of the guns on its body suddenly pointed at her. The image of the creature smiling its twisted demonic grin made her stomach lurch. But not with disgust, but with anger.

"WOMAN!" Kanda roared, causing Lita to flinch. She jumped to the side, away from where she had been standing, just in time.

A barrage of some kind of purplish-pink light threw up dust and debris of a varying sort, enveloping Lita in a cloud of dust. She coughed, wincing as the dust and dirt got into her eyes and lungs, making her cough. Realizing that she was a sitting duck, and that there was nothing stopping the Akuma from targeting and firing at the dust cloud, Lita ran out of it as fast as she could, stumbling on fallen branches and twigs.

"Was that a-" she coughed "Level One?"

"Yeah." Kanda coughed back, also affected by the dust cloud "Listen woman. The longer you fight that thing, the stronger it becomes, and the more likely it'll evolve."

"…" Lita didn't reply, but she wanted to tell Kanda that running away didn't actually count as fighting. She had no idea had to fight that thing.

_BOOM_

The sound of something exploding came from behind, not far off. Lita was a fast runner, but Kanda, as well as the Finders, knew she couldn't outpace the Akuma for long. Otherwise, it would be only a matter of time before it caught up to them.

"Woman-" Kanda started, but stopped when he was nearly thrown off of Lita's shoulder. She'd stopped so abruptly that if he had not been clinging quite so tight to her shoulder, he would've been thrown off.

"Woman, what are you doing?" he demanded as Lita took the messenger bag holding the Finders off. She took Kanda off her shoulder, setting him down next to the bag "I'm going to fight the Akuma. In your state, you'll only get in the way, so stay here."

And then she took off, running back towards the Akuma.

"WOMAN! Woman, damnit, you stupid, dumbass-" Kanda cursed at her retreating figure, disappearing between the trees. Kanda took off after her.

"Wait! What about us?" Andrew called after Kanda.

"Shutup and stay there. It's nothing new to you." he shouted at them, then increased his pace.

'_Damn stupid woman.'_

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> Sorry if this chapter isn't so great, but I had to deal with a lot of distractions as I wrote D: but I'd like to remind any readers that reviews are greatly appreciated as is CC and what not. Thanks to Kerry for reviewing X3 and to the rest of you silent readers, review...or, uh...Kanda will come after you with Mugen, lol.


	5. Luctor et Emergo

_Luctor et Emergo- I Struggle and Emerge_

* * *

><p>Lita couldn't deny that she'd been in some tough situations, some tight spots in her life. But out of all of them, this had to be one of the tightest spots that she'd ever got cornered into, almost literally.<p>

Currently she was hiding behind a large oak tree that was hold up against the purple darts that the Akuma was spewing at her from the cannons on its body. The tree creaked and groaned in agony, its sturdy form shaking after only fifteen seconds of the barrage. Heart pounding, the adrenaline pumping through her veins, Lita was highly aware of the sounds, movements, and sights around her. She leapt out from behind the tree, taking cover behind a small, thinner pine tree just as the oak exploded in a flurry of purple light, smoke, and wood.

A few pieces of debris hit Lita, but her focus was now on the Akuma. It seemed to have temporarily lost sight of her for the moment, and went past the tree she was hiding behind in search of her. In search of its prey, its next kill.

The female Exorcist exhaled quietly when the Akuma was a safe distance away from her, but nearly yelped in alarm when something hit her leg. Her head snapped down to where the thing had hit her, and it was there that she saw-

"Kanda." she hissed. Kanda managed to leap onto her shoulder, an impressive feat considering his shortened stature.

"What the hell are you doing, woman?" he growled

"What am I doing? What does it look like? I'm trying _not_ to get myself killed for starters!" she replied angrily. Innocence her ass. Whoever the idiot was who thought that sending her on a mission like this was a good idea was just…oh wait it was Komui….

"I'm going to kill Komui if I ever get back to the Black Order alive." Lita quietly swore under her breath, to the very slight amusement of Kanda. At least he knew they both shared one thing in common now.

"That's wonderful and all, but right now we have to deal with this Akuma. Now, say 'Innocence, activate'." Kanda told her. Lita hesitated for a moment, then lifted her arms up and made as if to grasp something in her hands.

"Innocence, activate!"

…_Hoohoo_

"What the fuck, this isn't working!" Lita grabbed Kanda and started shaking him violently, his blue hair whipping all about as his head bobbed back and forth.

"Who do you think you're messing with, you ponytail freak!"

"Go-d-damnit-t wom-ma-an!" Kanda managed to say while trying not to bite his tongue off while speaking, thanks to how hard Lita was shaking his small figure. He felt like a doll being shaken by an angry person. Or in this case an angry idiot…or bitch.

"…" after a minute or so, Lita stopped shaking the chibi in her hands and just glared at him. She sighed.

'_Well, obliviously he's no help.'_ she thought sourly, tempted to throw him over her shoulder, but instantly felt bad about thinking to do so. It actually wasn't Kanda's fault that her Innocence was retarded or that Komui had lied to her or made a mistake. In fact, he had been sent along with her to protect her in a way.

'_But then he epically failed by getting chibified by an Akuma. Then again, I guess it's easier to screw things up than actually do something right. Especially for him.'_ Lita thought with a slight smirk.

Kanda recovered quickly, and when he did, he glared daggers at Lita, biting his tongue so he wouldn't yell.

"Never do that again woman, or else I'll cut your throat open!"

"Oh, I'm so scared of Chibi Kanda! How frightening!" Lita held Kanda by his ponytail, at an arm's distance away from her. She actually found the sight of him dangling and swinging about helplessly while shouting death threats in chibi form amusing and wished that she had a camera to capture this moment.

"Shutup woman! Now, since it seems that your damn Innocence is retarded or something like that, we'll have to improvise on how we fight this Akuma. If Akuma are allowed to live long enough or fight an Exorcist for extended amounts of time, they level up. What we just faced was a Level One Akuma, the lowest on the chain. But Level Twos are twice as strong, develop unique abilities, and become far more cunning and clever, as well as malicious. That's why we need to defeat the Akuma _now_." the chibified Exorcist explained.

"Kanda…" Lita said, awe and amazement in her voice "I think that's the most I've ever heard you say at once."

"Che. Get going woman!" Kanda barked. Lita simply rolled her eyes, but started to move nonetheless. She was about five feet away from the tree that she had been hiding behind, when she noticed something was slightly off.

'_The light is…gone.'_ the faint moon and starlight that had been there before was gone, replaced by a dark shadow which enveloped her. She slowly looked over her shoulder, only to see the twisted face plastered onto the rough, deformed orb of a body. The Akuma smiled maliciously at her, it's bloodlust rising.

"Woman!"

Lita sprinted, taking off as fast as she could as the Akuma aimed all of its cannons at her and began firing. The ground behind her exploded in a flurry of dirt, debris, and dust, forming large clouds of dust that swarmed over the area. Lita coughed, shielding her eyes and nearly ran into a tree. She emerged from the dust cloud just as it began to dissipate, giving the Akuma a good view of its prey once more, allowing it to aim clearly at her.

Lita ran into a clearing, the Akuma following her closely, eager to claim the Exorcist's life and Innocence. She quickly scanned the area for an opening, but found, to her dread, that it was mostly a dead end due to the trees growing so close together that it was impossible to get out any other way aside for that which she came.

"Oi, woman..." Kanda started "try-" unfortunately, he never got a chance to finish.

A single shot from one of the Akuma's cannons managed to hit Lita on the side of her stomach, throwing her back into a nearby tree. She hit it with a sickeningly solid _thump_, and then crumpled to the ground, nearly unconscious. Though she'd been in worse pain before, this definitely ranked pretty high up there on her list of 'painful experiences'. Trembling a bit, she managed to stand up, leaning against the tree that she had been thrown against, resolving to push down the throbbing pain near her right thigh and in her back. She was so preoccupied with that and panicking over the Akuma before her that she hadn't even noticed that Kanda was no longer on her shoulder, but halfway across the clearing to her right.

The chibified Exorcist got up slowly, mentally cursing the damn Akuma, but froze when he caught sight of Lita and the Akuma drawing closer to her. She was quite effectively trapped. There was no way she could move fast enough to escape the Akuma, considering she was wounded as well as how close the Akuma was, all cannons trained on her. Kanda noted that the Akuma blood virus didn't affect her, probably due to her Innocence. Though in a way, it was more of a con, considering she'd die a more painful death directly at the hands of the Akuma by being shot to death.

'_Fuck!'_ Kanda cursed mentally as he watched the Akuma power up its guns, and prepare to fire. At the distance it was now, firing all of its cannons would most likely tear Lita apart. Kanda might not have liked Lita, but he didn't want her to die. Her death could also possibly mean his death as well, considering his current state.

"_Lita!_"

* * *

><p>"<em>Lita!"<em>

Someone had called her name. The way that person had called her name…it brought back memories of Akita…

Her vision seemed to narrow, darkening around the edges as the purple light intensified, growing. The deformed body, twisted face, all of it a sick mockery of life. Life.

_Hey, promise me you'll live, 'kay?_

_Don't you die…_

_Lita…_

"_Akita._" she whispered in return to her memories, the memories of him. The light grew even more, and in it, she could see her corpse, her death.

'_I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise…but no…I…I…'_

The light was nearly blinding her, as if it were inches away from her face. But there was something subtle, something she could faintly feel. It wasn't any kind of physical or emotional feeling, but something of the two combined and yet something entirely different, which she could not comprehend.

'_I…want…_'

It was so close now, as was the inevitable. She could not escape it, nor flee from it. The sensation, that feeling, was growing stronger, rising rapidly like air bubbles in water. White hot and burning, blinding, as if it were made of pure light, of pure _energy_.

'_I want…to…'_

Her vision suddenly opened up, widened. Her entire field of vision showed as much as it could of her surrounding, every detail, clear defined, and in focus, including the menacing monster only about six feet before her. That feeling, that sensation, that powerful light had broken to the surface at last, as if it had been waiting all her life to be released.

'_**LIVE!**_'

* * *

><p>Kanda was nearly blinded by the intense, sudden burst of light. In those few seconds he feared the worst. He rubbed his eyes, as time seemed to slow down, and he was conscious of every breath he took, of the sounds around him as his vision focused and cleared.<p>

Expecting to see a mangled corpse of the woman he had just bickered with earlier, he was shocked when instead he saw…light.

Pure, white light taking the form of an incomplete sphere, similar to a shield.

That was between Lita and the Akuma.

"That woman…is _that_ her Innocence?" Kanda muttered to himself, eyes wide. He'd never seen anything like it. Innocence was usually green in color, sometimes blue or yellow depending on the person. The darts from the Moyashi's 'Cross Beta' cannon were orange, but still…Kanda had never seen Innocence with such a white, vivid aura to it. Additionally, the Innocence wasn't completely tangible, for Kanda could see through the shield to a degree.

Kanda's eyes moved to Lita, who was standing there, just as shocked as he had been, her surprise written all over her face. Well, now that her Innocence was active, that wouldn't do at all.

"WOMAN!" he roared, surprisingly loud for something so small "GET A GRIP AND KILL IT ALREADY YOU IDIOT!"

As if snapped out of her shock by the insult, Lita took a battle stance, and held out her arms before her, grasping the air. She concentrated on the power, that white, burning light from before, and said-

"Innocence, activate."

Light surged in between her hands, writhing and flaring, lighting up the area with intense white light. The light took the form of a blade, at first it was chunky and flared around the edges, but thinned out, becoming finer and more graceful, eventually coming to resemble a cross between a katana and a chokuto like Kanda's. Lita gripped the hilt tightly, and raised it above her head as the shield dissolved. The Akuma took this chance to fire again at the Exorcist. Debris and dust flew up, but the Akuma had missed its prey. And suddenly, the hunted, had become the hunter.

"AAAAAAYYYYYYHHHHH!" the battle cry was surprisingly fierce, coming from a young woman of average height and build. Lita had leapt up with grace and strength that rivaled that of her comrade, and swung her blade down in a single, clean stroke. Even at such a distance, Kanda recognized a fairly developed and developing swordsman, noting that Lita wasn't blindly swinging her sword about, or using raw power, but an actual technique, no matter how basic it was.

The Akuma was no longer whole, nor was it alive. It fell to the ground, neatly sliced in two, while Lita landed gracefully on her feet, very much alive, unlike her foe.

Kanda started to make his way over to Lita, but he stopped when something emerged from the shadows that lined the edge of the clearing.

"Well damn, this really _is_ inconvenient." an oddly high pitched, warped voice giggled. Both Lita and Kanda narrowed their eyes at the figure which had emerged from the shadows. It was the same childish looking Akuma that had been turning everyone into chibis. Lita now got a better look at it, and saw that it was mostly pink, and wore something resembling a jester's attire. It looked nothing like the Akuma Lita had just slain, nor did it appear as threatening, but the Exorcist still stayed on guard and tense.

The Akuma giggled again "Oh, no matter I suppose. _Seeing as how you're going to die now._"

Four Level One Akuma emerged from the shadows, behind the Level Two. All of their guns were trained on Lita.

"Goodbye, Exorcist." the Level Two said in its sickly sweet voice, mockingly waving farewell. All four of the Akuma shot simultaneously, hitting their mark. Or so they thought.

Once again, Lita had leapt into the air with surprising grace and speed, her frame outlined by a full moon, now hanging overhead, framed by the stars. It was a beautiful sight, the female Exorcist framed against the moon and sea of black velvet, dotted with bright lights, similar to the blade that she was holding that looked as if to be made of pure light itself…

Lita landed on the nearest Level One, impaling it twice with her blade before leaping off to the next as it blew up. She sliced the second cleanly in half like the Level One that had cornered her but was now dead, and likewise, the Akuma fell to the ground in two halves, also dead. Lita disposed of the other two Akuma in a similar manner, all while dodging their bullets which whizzed past her. Years of training and engaging in multiple forms of fighting kept her on her toes and allowed her to dance around the Akuma almost effortlessly. Now that she had a weapon, claws and teeth, and means of striking back and defending herself, she no longer feared the Akuma.

While the fear of death and injury, the natural instinct that protected her and helped keep her on her toes was still there, it was no longer the fear of being slaughter like a helpless lamb, the senseless fear that had nearly paralyzed her, the fear of being hunted and killed. No, this fear wasn't as great nor was it as present; it was practically muffled by the adrenaline and exhilaration that could only be brought on by fighting, winning, and surviving.

Though, while Lita defeated the Level Ones, the Level Two slowly back away in fear, realizing that this Exorcist was far more powerful than it had originally thought. Turning its back to flee, the Akuma felt a sudden pain stab its back and screamed in terror. It looked down only to see a white, slender, graceful blade protruding from its stomach.

Behind the Akuma, Lita smirked among the corpses of the fallen monsters. Her blade, which she had thrown, had hit its target with perfect accuracy and pierced the Akuma from behind, sliding cleanly through its body. Taking advantage of the Akuma's shock and pain, causing it to be temporarily paralyzed, Lita leapt onto its back, sending it crashing into earth. She grabbed the hilt of her sword and sliced up, tearing through the Akuma. She calmly ignored its scream as it was practically ripped in half, alive, but the screams died down within seconds and then it fell silent, finally dead.

The Akuma that had caused so much trouble was finally slain.

Lita sighed, stepping back as the adrenaline receded and exhaustion took its place. Though there hadn't been many Akuma, considering it was her first time slaying an Akuma, as well as the injury she had received and all the running she'd done as well as all the fear she had felt, the fear which had kept her alive, it was only natural to want to drop to her knees and rest. Lita relaxed her guard and turned to where she thought her fellow Exorcist would be.

But rather, instead of Kanda, there were two Level Two Akuma.

"…!"

One of the Akuma lashed out vine-like tentacles, wrapping around Lita before she could even react. This caused her sword to go flying out of her hand, and land several feet behind where she had been standing.

"Hehehehe…the Earl will be very pleased to see what Innocence we've obtained. I can't believe we got here at such a good time!" the Akuma that had grabbed her laughed. Its fellow Akuma grumbled "We're splitting the credit for capturing and killing the Exorcist."

"What was that? _I_ was the one who caught her, hehehe!" it gloated, only irritating the other Akuma.

"You bastard, we agreed that-"

The Akuma was cut short, literally, when a flash of blue light blazed down the middle of its body, cutting it in two and killing it instantly. The tentacles holding Lita captive loosened and fell in a limp heap around the Exorcist as she landed on the ground. Glancing up, she caught the sight of something black protruding from the skull of the Akuma that had grabbed her, its mouth hanging open slackly.

"Y-You…damn…filthy…Exor-" it died before it got a chance to finish, the tip of the black blade cleaving clean through its skull. It was dead before it hit the earth.

"Next time," Kanda said as he slung his blade over his shoulder "don't let your guard down so easily, woman. It'll get you killed."

Lita stared at Kanda, trying to readjust to his normal form. Though he hadn't been a chibi for long, she had gotten used to him being small and adorable.

"Right." she responded without thinking much.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me." Kanda frowned, and strode over to Lita. Hesitantly, she got up.

"What?" she asked, when Kanda came to a stop before her. She wondered for a moment if this was about before, about shaking him and dangling him from his ponytail. Kanda leaned down slightly, placing a hand on Lita's wounded side. Instinctively, she yelped and slapped his hand away, backing up from him rapidly. Kanda's eyes narrowed at her.

"Let me see your wound." he demanded, taking a step towards her. But that was it. Despite the tone of his voice, he approached her cautiously, like a person approaching a wild, wounded animal that might strike out. Once again, he placed his hand on her side and this time he managed to examine the injury. The bullet had grazed her side, leaving a large, but fairly shallow gash which didn't bleed too much. Some gauze and rest would fix the injury fine. Kanda mentally smirked at the idea of Lita being fussed over by the Head Nurse and suffering treatment as such. Kanda had faced such an experience many times due to how he was usually sent on more dangerous missions because of his higher skill as an Exorcist.

"Just put gauze on it when we get back to town." he told her, withdrawing his hand from her side. As he pulled away, he noticed a faint blush on her cheeks. Kanda's lips almost twitched into a smirk, but at that moment, the two Finders came running into the clearing.

"You're both okay! That's great!" Andrew shouted, waving to them as he jogged towards them. He and Paum, like Kanda, were back to normal, un-chibified. Kanda said nothing, but merely walked off as soon as the Finders reached them. Lita sighed and looked at the Finders, shrugging as if to say 'Oh well'. The Exorcist and Finders followed Kanda, but stopped after a certain point.

"Kanda!" Lita yelled, trying to get her companion's attention. He didn't even stop, merely looking over his shoulder.

"What, woman?"

"You're going the wrong way…again."

"…Shutup." he snapped as he walked back towards them, Lita and the two Finders laughing at his poor sense of direction.

Thankfully, after returning to town and heading to the Forest Shrine, their group hadn't encountered any Akuma. Once they had secured the Innocence, Andrew and Paum set off on their next Finding mission, while Kanda and Lita went their separate ways as well, leaving immediately after retrieving the Innocence. They were now on the train, sitting across from each other, just as they had during the trip coming to the village.

Lita glanced over at Kanda, amazed that he hadn't fallen asleep. She was holding out okay, but after everything that had occurred since the night before, she was quite tired. As she gazed out the window, a sudden thought came to her, urging her to sit closer to Kanda. Lita got up and moved to the vacant space that was left next to Kanda, since he was sitting close to the window. He glanced at her, the glance being more of a glare that said 'Get lost'.

"Hey Kanda, you've been calling me 'woman' since you met me." Lita stated. Kanda narrowed his eyes at her.

"So what? If it bothers you, I don't care, because I won't call you by your name-"

"Ah, but you _did_ say my name when the Akuma cornered me." she smirked, much to the Japanese Exorcist's irritation.

"I did not. You must have been hearing things, woman." he grumbled, gazing out the window stubbornly. Lita smiled nonetheless, knowing that he _had_ called her name. Though, for a second, when he did, it really sounded like-

"So what if I did? If I admit to saying your name, then I want you to answer one question-no lying." he said suddenly, facing her again, as if agitated. Lita blinked, and after a few seconds of hesitating, nodded.

"Fine." Kanda breathed "I called you by your damn name, but that'll probably be the last time I ever do so…woman. Now, my question. Why the hell are you so skittish?"

"What?" Lita asked, genuinely confused.

"I mean, why are you so…" Kanda struggled to find the appropriate words to express his thoughts and the meaning of his question "When I touched you're side last night, you were so defensive. It wasn't because it hurt, but something else. And when we first met, you nearly killed me when I grabbed your shoulder." he paused, their eyes meeting directly "Does it bother you that much when someone touches you? Why is that so? Or is it just me?"

"That's three questions."

"Don't try to change the subject." he said sternly.

"…" Lita didn't know exactly how to respond to his questions, hesitating and trying to pick the right words to explain. For several minutes they went on in silence like this, and finally, Kanda huffed and turned back towards the window.

"Forget it. If it's that hard for you, then don't answer."

"No! I…" Lita exclaimed, trailing off. Kanda looked back at her again, and at last, she answered.

"It's just that…I don't like…I…" she sighed, then "It's just that…I've had some experience with people who…weren't very nice, to say the least."

Kanda sensed that there was far more to explaining the answers to his questions, and that much had been left unsaid, being summed up in one semi-cryptic sentence. From judging by her reactions and what she just said, Kanda assumed that she had probably been abused by someone. He had never felt so curious about anyone, nor had he felt the need to learn more than he needed to know about a person other than himself. Well, maybe Alma, but he had been an exception.

Kanda gazed at Lita, debating whether or not he should question her further, but upon seeing the troubled look in her eyes, he decided that it would be best if he didn't push further. This struck him as odd, because normally he would've disregarded her emotions and questioned her to his heart's content, until he was satisfied, even if it only served to make her hate him for it.

"I see." he nodded after awhile, then leaned slightly against the windows, closing his eyes. Lita clearly saw that their conversation was over, and was about to get up, when something hit her gently on the shoulder. She looked over to see Kanda leaning against her, sleeping. Or so she thought.

When she tried to get up, Kanda opened his eyes, still leaning against her.

"Do you have a problem?"

"Um, why are you-"

"You're more comfortable to lean against than the window. Wake me up before we get to our stop." he stated simply, then closed his eyes and fell asleep again. Lita awkwardly shifted. She had a distinct feeling that Kanda would never do this to anyone…so why the hell was he acting all…'friendly' with her. Though normally this couldn't be considered friendly, from what she had observed in the short amount of time the spent together, Kanda was an antisocial jerk who loathed everyone around him.

'_But then why…I thought Lavi told me he was gay…'_ Lita thought, but shook her head and stopped dwelling on it, instead shifting her thoughts to what she could look forward to when they arrived at the Black Order.

'_I guess it's not so bad.'_ she thought, looking down at Kanda. He wasn't leaning on her too heavily, and the warmth from where they touched was pleasant. But it was weird. Not because she didn't like people touching her, but because it was _Kanda_ leaning against her.

'_Yeah, this is definitely weird. Nice and pleasant…but still weird.'_

* * *

><p>"Hm. Well, then, you're both free to go. Sorry again about the trouble you experienced there. If I had known this sort of thing would've happened, I would've sent Allen along too." Komui said, looking at the report they turned in as he sipped his coffee.<p>

"In any case, good job, the both of you. Oh, and Lita, I'd like to examine your Innocence later, after you've rested." Komui told, then dismissed the two.

Lita and Kanda walked back to their rooms in silence, nothing being said for some time, until Lita spoke up.

"So…erm…"

"What?"

"Uh…"

'_Think of something Lita!'_

"Did you die your hair or is that its natural color?" she blurted at last, nothing else coming to mind. Kanda looked at her incredulously.

"What the hell kind of question is that?"

"I don't know! But is it?"

"No…I dye it."

"But-" Lita stopped suddenly, causing Kanda to look at her oddly.

"What?"

"It's nothing. I love the shade of blue you picked…it really compliments your eyes." she snickered.

"Shutup woman." and with those last words he parted from her, slamming the door to his room behind him. Lita smiled and sighed as she entered her own room, enjoying having one-upped Kanda momentarily. Though she wondered if there was a sentimental reason for Kanda dying his hair (thought it seemed like there was nothing sentimental about the guy) she figured that it was best left alone, and if he wanted to tell her, then it was up to him. She understood too well how it felt to be questioned about personal issues and sentiments, best left unspoken of and unexplained, to all but those who were closest to you.

As Lita undressed for her shower, next door, Kanda flopped down on his own bed, undoing his hair tie. He was thankful that Lita hadn't asked him why he died his hair. When Kanda was young, there was another boy with dark hair, just like his, someone, the one person who he had been closest to. Alma.

But after killing Alma with his own hands, Kanda could no longer bear to have his dark, black hair, for it reminded him of his friend far too much. As Kanda fell asleep, his thoughts gradually turned away from everything else as he stared at the lotus flower blooming in the hourglass like contraption, and fell asleep with the image of the fresh blooming pink lotus strong in his mind.

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><p><strong>AN:<strong> Thanks again to Kerry for reviewing, and also to yousaidwhat. The rest of you people who are reading this, remember to review! Even just a few reviews are very motivating. Constructive criticism is also appreciated, but flames are not, so flamers stay away. Also, I figured I'd add in some of Lita's info just for kicks after this.

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><p><strong>Name:<strong> Lita White

**Gender:** Female

**Age:** 17

**Date of Birth:** April 14

**Affiliation:** Black Order

**Innocence:** ?

**Type:** Parasitic

**Blood Type:** A

**Height:** 5'6 1/2 (169.15cm)

**Nationality:** America

**Appearance:** Lita is fair skinned with chocolate brown hair which is about shoulder length. She has vivid green eyes. Lita well endowed, slim and athletic, and considered to be 'cute' and or 'beautiful' or pretty. She has a large scar on the palm of her right hand. Currently, she the standard Exorcist uniform, a coat, much like Lavi's, only slightly longer, with black, tight fitting jeans and black boots. Underneath her Exorcist coat, she wears a simple dark green tank top. When she first showed up at the Order, she wore a loose fitting, baggy jacket.

**Personality:** Lita seems to be a determined, but sentimental and emotional person, though she does not like to show it. She has had a turbulent, traumatizing past and has lost many important people in her life, but in spite of this, she does what she can to keep moving. It can also be noted that she has a strong will to live, is confident, and remains calm and level headed in most situations. She is observant and aware of her surroundings, drawing conclusions based on details and information she gathers. Lita generally tries to get along with people (even people like Kanda) and not create friction, but there are certain people that she can't always get along with, and from time to time, bickers with (like Kanda).

**History:** Little is known about Lita's past, but it can be assumed that she's possibly been mistreated and traumatized.

**Abilities:** Lita has displayed several skills thus far-

Lock Picking: Lita seems to be proficient at this.

Observant: Lita is observant of her surroundings, and often takes into account what others might miss completely.

Physical Strength: Lita was able to cleave through several Akuma with her blade. She was also able to twist Kanda's arm into a position that threatened to break it, though this could be partially attributed to Kanda being caught off guard. Since she's been noted to be athletic, it can also be noted that she's strong.

Speed: Lita is quite fast, able to evade Akuma and their bullets on several occasions. She is also agile, able to leap onto an Akuma and impale it.

Hand to hand Combatant: Lita was able to twist Kanda's arm into a breaking position. She also mentioned that she was skilled in 'several forms of taijutsu' meaning that she has some skill and experience in this field.

Soujutsu: Lita said that she was trained in this field.

Swordsman: Lita's Innocence took the form of a sword. She has said that she was trained in swordsmanship, and defeated several Akuma with her Innocence-sword with little difficulty (though they were mostly Level Ones). It is unknown exactly how skilled she is with a sword, but Kanda noted that she was using a technique, rather than just flailing the sword around.

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>That' all for her profile for now. Again, don't forget to leave a review…and if anyone faved this story or put it on their Story Alerts, thanks.


	6. Lucis Ensis

_Lucis Ensis- Sword of Light_

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><p>Lita couldn't decide what was more annoying-Kanda sitting across from her shirtless, or his golem bumping into her head every five seconds, which was bound to give her a headache.<p>

"Hey, Kanda, get your golem to stop." the American teen half-demanded, swatting at the black and white nuisance. Once she stopped swatting, the golem resumed its activity, and its owner continued to ignore her.

"Oi! B…Bakada! Get your damn golem to stop it!" she yelled this time, and Kanda turned to her. Almost as if by magic, the golem stopped pestering the young woman. She sighed in relief, but stopped, pausing at a single thought.

'_Does his golem have a name? Of course it does…it must have a name…maybe…Kanda Jr.?'_ she thought, and then _'But more importantly, why the hell is Kanda shirtless to begin with?'_

As if picking up on her thoughts, the Japanese teen got up from where he had been sitting, stopping in front of her. She felt a faint blush blossom on her cheeks, mentally chiding herself as she turned her head to look away. Who wanted to look away from that lithe, athletic physique, the gracefulness of his body which was tempting her-

'_No. Stop it Lita. Those are BAD thoughts. B-A-D thoughts. Why? Because you're not into jerks like Kanda, or at least you don't want a jerk like Kanda knowing that your into him.'_ she thought, but her thoughts were suddenly interrupted when she felt a pressure on her legs, and looked back to see Kanda poised on her lap. She gasped, trying to get up, but he held her down.

"Where are you going, o~nna~ch~aaan~?" he said in a sing song voice, lifting a few strands of hair from her face, brushing his knuckles against her cheek lightly. Lita bit her lip, trying to keep quiet. Kanda had to be doing this for some kind of sick kick, but why the hell would he do that?

"Lita~chan." he whispered in her ear, leaning close. She felt his warm breath on her neck and ear, sending shivers up her spine.

'_Dear deity that exists or can hear me, please just get him the hell off of me. This is pure torture.'_

Whatever deity heard her or existed at all must've had a sense of humor just like Kanda's. If Kanda had a sense of humor. Honestly, Lita was more than half convinced that it had committed suicide long ago when Kanda was a child.

"What's that matter, Lita-chan? No response?" he whispered again, drawing back slightly. Lita almost let out a sigh of relief. But then Kanda did something completely unexpected. Grabbing the back of her head, he jerked her head up painfully so she was looking him straight in the eyes, then he leaned in so close until their lips touched-

"WAAAHHHH!"

Lita bolted up, shaking.

It took her more than a full minute to realize several things.

A) she was in her bed, b) it had been a dream, c) Kanda, or at least the Kanda she knew so far, would never do anything like that, lest the world should end and all laws of physics and science stop applying to the world and or should reality completely break down altogether, and d) …what the hell was up with that dream?

After taking a look at the clock across from her bed, she saw that it was roughly sevenish, and decided to get up and get dressed, then head to the science division to see Komui about her Innocence.

* * *

><p>'<em>Now if I remember correctly…Komui's office is around…here.'<em> the Exorcist thought. She caught sight of Johnny, who was talking to another who had bandages wrapped around part of his face and head. Lita came up behind Johnny and said his name.

"Aah!" the short researcher jumped slightly, whirling around and coming face to face with Lita.

"O-oh L-Li-t-ta-a." Johnny stuttered, his glasses steaming up. He backed away hastily, trying to hide the blush on his face.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you. Do you know where Komui is? I wanted to see him about my Innocence."

"Oh yeah! Um, the chief should be in his office." Johnny replied, managing not to stutter.

"Ah, thanks."

Johnny exhaled hard as he watched the retreating Exorcist head towards Komui's office. Tup grinned at his friend and playfully nudged him in the side.

"Looks like someone has a crush on the new girl." he teased lightly, causing Johnny to turn bright red once more.

"A-As if! Besides, she's kinda young and whatnot…" the shorter researcher huffed, but Tup saw right through his flimsy lie and excuse. He was sorely tempted to reply 'Or is it just that's she's out of your league.', but refrained from saying so on behalf of his friend's delicate ego.

"Aw you're just saying that." he said shaking his head, then went back to his desk, shortly followed by Johnny.

When Lita entered Komui's office, she was slightly surprised to see Leenalee there, holding a tray with a coffee mug on it. Komui looked up from something on his desk and smiled warmly at her.

"Lita! You couldn't have come at a more perfect time!" he stated, taking the coffee mug off the tray Leenalee was holding and sipping the hot liquid.

"If you'll just follow me to the examination room, we can begin." he got up from behind his desk, carefully wading in the sea of papers that covered the entire floor.

"Leenalee, are you free today?" Lita asked the Chinese girl, causing Komui to suddenly look up, startled, and loose his balance, face planting right into a rather large heap of papers and sending multiple papers flying through the air like leaves.

"Hm? Oh yeah, I am. Did you wanna go shopping after this?"

"Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking."

"That sounds great! Well, now that I think about it, I don't really have much to do, so I'll just come with you while Komui is testing your Innocence-don't worry, usually it doesn't take very long." Lenalee said, and after that, the two girls followed Komui.

Komui lead Lita to a semi-small room that resembled a doctor's office in a way. He pulled out several sharp looking instruments, causing Lita to have some doubts about the 'tests' he was about to perform. Lita looked at Lenalee, and the Chinese girl seemed to understand, because she asked her brother what kind of tests he would perform.

"Hm, since Lita's Innocence is somewhat, er, unusual, I've decided that the best way is to simply examine her Innocence manifested. Though, we can't say for sure that the sword she creates is all that her Innocence can do. On your report, I noticed both you and Kanda mentioned something about your Innocence taking the form of a shield or barrier which protected you from the Akuma's blood bullets." Komui explained.

"W-Oh, yeah, it took the form of a shield for a few seconds, but not for long. So you want me to just create the sword from before?"

"Yes, if you can. It could be harder to activate your Innocence without any Dark Matter around-"

"Like this?" Lita asked, holding up the white chokutou-katana hybrid. Komui was taken aback at first, not quite stunned, but still surprised and impressed that Lita had been able to form her Innocence so quickly, considering this would be her second time using it within less than a twenty four hour period.

"Yes…now I just want to examine it for a few minutes, and maybe take a sample. By the way," Komui said as he moved to get his clipboard "what's the name of your Innocence?"

"N-Name?"

"Yes, typically, since Innocence is most commonly found in Equipment types, the Innocence is named by the creator of the object which the Innocence is housed in, or whatever the Accommodator calls it. For example, Kanda's Innocence, Mugen, was forged by a sword smith working for the Order, and named by that sword smith. But one of the newer Exorcists, Miranda Lotto, had no defined name for her Innocence, which was also an Equipment type, but we named it for her, based on its nature. Mostly it's up to the Exorcist, but it helps us keep track of the different Innocence's." Komui told her. Lita stared at the blade for a minute while Komui examined it as well, but for a different purpose.

Lita wondered, if her Innocence could speak, what would it says it's name was? Something that made a statement not only about the Innocence, but also about its wielder. Something about her…

"_Lucis Ensis._" she said quietly, causing both siblings to look at her questioningly

"Lucis…Ensis? Is that what you decided to call it?" Lenalee asked, the name sounding slightly strange to her, though she had no idea what it meant. Somehow though, it sounded graceful and beautiful at the same time.

"Yes. Lucis Ensis. It's Latin for 'Sword of Light'." Lita stated as Komui finished the tests, and jotted down the name of Lita's Innocence in his notes.

"Very well then. If your Innocence shows any signs of development, please come back to me so I can examine it again." Komui told Lita, then saw the two girls off at the main entrance hall, all while doting on Lenalee and worrying about her safety.

"Be careful Lenalee! Have a good time Lenalee! Lita, look after Lenalee! I'll see you in a little bit, Lenalee!" Komui called after them as they retreated down the path, Lenalee blushing in embarrassment as her brother continued to dote on her from afar. Lita smiled at the Chinese girl.

"You're lucky to have such a caring family member." she commented, causing the younger girl to smile.

"Yeah, but sometimes his shenanigans get a little out of hand." she sighed, remembering the incident with the Level 2 Akuma and the Komlin while she had been shopping in town with Russell, but a spark of friendly curiosity removed her thoughts from the disaster "Lita, what about your family?"

Lenalee instantly regretted asking that question when she saw a shadow cast across the young woman's face after she had asked this question. Hastily, she apologized.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ask about such a personal matter. I mean, I don't really even know you that well and-"

"It's alright. It's a standard question to ask." Lita answered, her face betraying no sign of the emotion that it had showed seconds before. On the contrary, she seemed rather calm, almost apathetic and emotionless about it.

"What about my family? Well, my mom died when I was young, my father left before I was even born, my step father and step brother constantly abused me beyond the mere expression of words and more than once tried to kill me, the rest of my family either hates me, ignores me, or has tried to kill me, and by the time I was thirteen, I had to care for myself after my mother had been murdered before my eyes."

That was what she wanted to say. It was the truth, and nothing but the truth, but Lita held her tongue. Lenalee had just met her, and Lita had little to nothing to base off of whether or not she could trust Lenalee or not. And it wasn't just a question of trust. Lita's past was incredibly turbulent, which was part of the reason why she hated telling others the truth. More often, she just smiled and lied to a degree.

"My mother was a nice person. I can't remember much about my father though. I had no siblings."

"Oh." Lenalee said, then changed the subject to something else, such as what they would buy in town. Lita was glad that Lenalee didn't ask any more questions about her or her past.

* * *

><p>"Hey Yuu." Lavi called to Kanda, who was training with a wooden sword, seemingly going through some basic movements.<p>

"…" Kanda didn't reply, nor did he give the slightest inclination that he heard Lavi. Allen trailed behind Lavi, having asked the redhead to train with him for a bit. But first, Lavi had some business with Kanda.

"Yuu! Oi! Yuu! ." Lavi called, cupping his hands, even though he was standing less than five feet away from Kanda. Despite the stoic expression that Kanda held, his left eye twitched visibly, a sure sign of his anger and annoyance toward the redheaded Exorcist.

"Hey, Bakanda!" Allen shouted. Kanda swung his sword down furiously, then looked up and glared at both Baka Usagi and Moyashi.

"Shutup. I'm training." he growled, but before he could go back to his exercises, Lavi was by his side, pinching his ear. Kanda glared at him murderously, growling like a rabid pit bull.

"So, how was the mission with Lita? Maybe change your mind about being ga-" Lavi nimbly avoided the sword swung in his direction, years of being around Kanda and irritating the dark haired Exorcist giving him a certain kind of intuition of when to expect these kind of attacks and how best to dodge them.

"Calm down Yuu, I was only joking. I know you still got the hots for Allen-" Lavi dodged the wooded sword thrown and aimed at his good eye with relative ease. Kanda, now lacking a weapon that he could effectively use against Lavi, seemed ready to simply pounce on and strangle the life out of the one eyed Exorcist.

"But seriously, do you like her or what?" Lavi managed to jump out of Kanda's reach as the latter pounced like a panther, intent on killing Lavi at this point.

"Though, if you don't want to admit it this early on, that's just fine." Lavi waved, turning his back to Kanda, the heading over to a safe spot, or relatively safe spot. Allen followed, skirting around a fuming Kanda who stormed over to where the wooden sword and had landed. Just as his fingers touched the hilt, Lavi called out to him.

'_Damnit, what now?'_ Kanda thought, biting his lip to keep from shouting at Lavi. All he had wanted to do was come and train in peace and quiet, but apparently, with Lavi around, that was too much to ask for.

"I stopped by and talked with Komui." Lavi told him.

'_So what? How does this concern me?'_

"And he told me that Lita's Innocence had been named, or at least the form its taken. He said it was called _Lucis Ensis_, which is supposed to be Latin for 'Sword of Light'. From what I was told, it sounds pretty fitting, especially for someone named _Lita._"

"What?" Kanda straightened up, sword loosely in his grip. Allen's interest seemed to be sparked to.

"Ah, that's right. You guys probably wouldn't know since you haven't studied any Latin. 'Lita' is a feminine version of a Latin name which means light." Lavi explained, then started training with Allen.

'_Light.'_ Kanda thought back to the battle with the Akuma, remembered watching as Lita formed a blade that seemed to be made of pure white light, though he knew it was Innocence. The way he could see through it slightly gave it an even stronger impression that Lucis Ensis was truly a sword of light.

'_Light.'_ Kanda shook his head, and tried to focus on his training, but something at the back of his head kept nagging him.

'_Light.'_

* * *

><p>"Wow, I can't believe we were gone nearly the entire day. Do you think this be alright with Komui? I mean, he won't get mad or anything, will he?"<p>

"No, he might be a little worried, but he knows I can defend myself if anything did happen. Besides, he probably knew we were going to be out most of the day." Lenalee replied.

"." a wail rose up as soon as they came into sight of the main entrance, a lone figure clad in white standing in the doorway, waving frantically. Suddenly, what seemed to be various members of the science division, appeared behind Komui and lifted him up, carrying the wailing Branch Chief away.

"Um…"

"Don't worry about him, he's probably just slacking off on some paperwork or something. I'll go check up on him after dinner." Lenalee said "But right now, we should probably just go drop this stuff off at your room." she lifted one of the heavier bags up. Lita nodded in agreeance. They hadn't bought a ton of clothing, but not a skimpy amount either. Just enough to meet the basic needs pretty much, though that also included several casual outfits. Currently Lita was wearing a short sleeved blouse and a blue pleated skirt that was relatively short. There was only one problem with the shirt though-it fit fine, except for her chest area, where it was slightly too tight. Too tight to a noticeable degree. Noticeable enough to get quite a few wolf whistlers from some of the passing men on their way back to the Black Order.

When the two girls were done putting away the clothes Lita had bought, she and Lenalee started to head down to the mess hall when they ran into Kanda, who was also on his way there. He frowned immediately upon seeing them.

"Woman! Cover up! Show some decency!" Kanda barked. Lita frowned back at him, about to retort, but then she smiled slyly. Kanda's brow only came down further when he saw that smile.

"What, you don't like it?" she asked innocently, causing Kanda to blush slightly and lose his composure.

"It's-well-you can't-!" he nearly stuttered, then finally "No, I don't like it! Wear something else!"

"Then," Lita said slowly "I'll wear it more often!"

Kanda nearly slapped his face with the palm of his hand. This woman was like Lavi and Allen rolled up in one, as far as annoying him went.

"Whatever." he muttered, then headed down to the dining hall.

Lenalee dragged Kanda with her and Lita over to where Allen and Lavi were sitting, the two Exorcists looking up from their meals (or in Allen's case, a mountain of food) and greeting the other three Exorcists.

"I like your outfit Lita." Lavi grinned, winking at her.

"It looks nice." Allen complimented.

"Thanks."

"Hey Lita, do you by chance have any ancestors from Ancient Rome." Lavi questioned, earning some confused looks from everyone except for Lita.

"Yeah, actually I do, kinda. My family is a single stem line, supposedly only a girl is born, never a boy, and only one girl. My mom told me that we can trace our heritage back to ancient times, but I never really believed her that much…I guess you're asking because of my name, right?" Lita answered as she poked at the grilled chicken on her plate.

"That and what you named the sword form of your Innocence. Interesting choice."

"Not really. It's pretty blunt and straightforward."

"Still, it's an interesting name." he insisted, then took a bite of his spring roll, the smirked at Kanda.

"So, do you like Lita's new outfit, Yuu?"

"Yuu?"

"Yuu Kanda. Yuu's his given name, Kanda's his surname. He just doesn't like being called Yuu, so most just call him Kanda." Lavi explained, earning a death glared from Kanda.

"Baka Usagi…" Kanda growled, warningly, but it was too late. Lita smiled mischievously at him.

"So Yuu, do you like my new outfit?"

Kanda groaned, leaning over his soba as the others laughed. If Moyashi and Baka Usagi or the Noah and Millennium Earl weren't going to be the death of him, it would be this damnded woman.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> yay! Finally finished! Sry for the long wait, but I've been kinda busy lately…even more so than usual. sry if there are grammar mistakes in this, but I was in a bit of a rush to get it up. thanks to yousaidwhat, Serah Sinsyres, and animadicct'123. to animadicct'123- agh! you had to ask such a difficult question(s), but alright. Lita's past is, as stated before, absolutely terrible, and as you can see, she hasn't had a lot of people to rely on and had to strike it out on her own. I'm planning to go into detail later, but that'll be much later. these are just hints at the dark past my OC has endured *evil grin* as for how she wound up in the past…we'll get to that soon enough…or later or something. sometime. and as how the order won if she came from the future? well, I look at it this way. if Lita was sent back into the past, that would mean that technically she could intervene and change some or do something that would ensure a noah-free-future (such as defeating the mil. earl and noah) but also, there's the fact that most people in the d gray verse who live in the current story line don't even known about akuma, so there could be a black order and noah clan in Lita's time as well (assuming that there wasn't some big apacolyptic battle or it was a draw or something like that) and Lita, like most people in the d gray verse would be blissfully unaware of the noah and akuma and the order, no matter which time she's in. there's multiple factors to consider. hope that cleared things up. now to you readers-as for this chapter, this was a bit more of a 'passive' chapter, where nothing exciting really happened, but the action will pick up again in the next chapter, which I'll be posting soon, assuming that I get some more reviews! yes, you heard me! don't forget to review! thanx again to those who added this to ur faves and story alerts.


	7. Nix

_Nix- Snow_

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><p>"A new mission?" Lita asked, standing in Komui's office. Reever had caught sight of the young woman and told her that Komui had a mission assignment for her.<p>

"I hope you like cold weather." Komui said, smirking as he rested his chin against his hand.

"Cold? How cold? What kind of cold are we talking about?"

"Oh, just heavy snow, possibly some snowstorms…" Komui answered lightly, trailing off. Lita's left eye twitched. If there was anything she hated, it was cold weather.

"Don't worry about going alone. I've already assigned Allen and Kanda to this mission, and Lavi and Bookman will probably be tagging along too. Everything's been taken care of in advance, so just focus on getting the Innocence, and surviving of course! Here's the mission portfolio with all the details-and that's it!"

Lita reluctantly accepted the black leather folder and nodded to Komui before leaving his office. She had been told that usually for missions, they left from a canal that ran from the Order to the nearest train station. She headed down several floors until she had reached the very bottom floor, and found a cavern-like tunnel leading to the docks. It wasn't relatively hard to find since the sound of water flowing and dripping echoed loudly in the dim, large space.

When Lita finally reached the docks, she saw Allen, Kanda, Lavi, and Bookman already waiting there for her.

"Hey Lita." Lavi greeted warmly, extending a hand out to help her keep her balance. Though she didn't need it, she took his hand anyway and smiled in return.

After a brief trip down the canal, they caught their train and boarded. Kanda, naturally, took a seat which would distance him as much as possible from the others, sitting at the front of the car, while Lavi, Lita, and Allen all sat together. Bookman said that he was tired and wanted to rest as much as possible, and took up residence in a vacant car behind them.

"And so there I was in China, and this beautiful girl in an amazing silk dress walked in-hey! Are you even listening?" Lavi pouted as he watched Allen fall asleep. He looked over to Lita, still pouting.

"Can you believe he fell asleep on me?"

If she hadn't had years of experience in lying and keeping a straight face during certain situations, she would've been unable to refrain from laughing her head off.

"Well he is pretty tired after all…I liked your story though, it was interesting." Lita said politely. For a moment she feared Lavi might see through her lie, but after a few seconds, he broke out into a grin.

'_Aw, how cute.'_ Lita thought. She really did like Lavi. He was easy to get along with, funny, and one of the few people who wasn't terrified of Kanda.

'_Kind of like an older brother maybe…'_ she thought, snapping back to the present when she caught sight of a mischievous grin that the red head had donned.

"Lavi?" she asked hesitantly. His grin only widened when he pulled out a marker from one of his coat pockets.

"Um…" Lita watched as he set out on making Allen's face a work of art. Lita was impressed by Lavi's ability to keeps his hands steady and work delicately so as not to wake Allen, despite how the train car would occasionally jolt. After decorating Allen's face with various doodles, Lita watched (with a gasp) as Lavi set out boldly towards where Kanda was sitting. After a quick glance at Allen (and some stifled laughter) Lita set out after Lavi.

She found the red headed Exorcist picking up Kanda's hair and then start braiding it.

'_That's real gutsy. But then again Lavi does seem like the prankster type…the type who'll even sneak into the dragon's den just to braid the dragon's mane.'_ Lita thought, smirking. She took up residence in the seat behind Lavi and Kanda, watching as Lavi continued to braid the sleeping Exorcist's hair.

Just as he came close to finishing, Kanda stirred for no apparent reason, blinking a few times before realizing something was off. Lita quickly ducked down behind the seat so Kanda wouldn't see her.

'_This could get ugly…Lavi, run! Nooo, poor Lavi. He never had a chance…'_

Lita heard "Oh hey, glad you woke up Yuu. Maybe you ought to take a looksie at Allen, something really weird happened to his face-"

_Shiiin_

The sound of a sword being unsheathed as well as the sound of someone backing up rapidly could be heard.

"Jeez, sorry Yuu. Take it easy."

"…!" Kanda just growled in response, prompting Lavi to rush back to his seat and take cover. Only when Kanda had sheathed his sword did Lita pop up behind him.

"Hey." she said casually, startling the Japanese Exorcist. He glared at her venomously, more grouchy than usual due to having woken up to a stupid rabbit braiding his lush, well-cared for hair. Kanda absolutely _hated_ anyone touching his hair.

"Did you have any part in this woman?" he growled.

"Nope. I was just watching." Lita was tempted to add 'He did a pretty good job too.' but decided that it was best not to further antagonize Kanda.

"Then why the hell didn't you wake me up? Or maybe stop him? Did either occur to you at any point?"

"Yesnomaybeso."

"You. Are. Impossible." Kanda groaned, leaning back into his seat. he glared at the braid that Baka Usagi had created, wishing he had a comb or some kind of brush. As if reading his thoughts, Lita pulled out a small comb from her jacket pocket, handing it to Kanda.

"Is this some kind of girl thing or something? Carry around a comb wherever you go?" Kanda questioned as he loosened the braid and combed his hair straight again. Just for good measure, he took out his hair tie and combed the rest of his hair as well.

"No!" Lita snapped. Kanda twisted back slightly to get a better look at her face, getting some amusement from the irritated look. So he'd found another way to get under her skin.

"So are you a tomboy?" he questioned as he combed vigorously at a stubborn knot.

"Not exactly, but I'm not some kind of girly-girl." Lita grumbled in response, propping her elbows on the top of Kanda's seat. Once he finished combing out his hair, he handed her back her comb and tied his hair up again.

'_It's kinda too bad, he looked really hot with his hair down like that…Agh! No! What am I thinking? No, I'm not falling for him, I'm not falling for him!'_ Lita sunk down a bit, Kanda not even noticing her internal confliction/denial. He was simply happy to have gotten his hair back to normal.

But something that bothered him was when he had taken Lita's comb…and smelt her scent on it. It wasn't a bad scent, on the contrary, it was actually quite pleasant. But that was what bothered him…he couldn't, no, _didn't_ want admit that he had liked it. While emotions of lust and desire, nor fulfillment of those urges were anything new to him, he preferred not to get involved in such relationships with people he'd see often…such as that woman.

Besides, there was that person he had to find…he didn't need any deep emotional relationship with anyone or anything like that. He didn't. He was fine as he was. Completely, totally, absolutely fine. Fine as he could be…yes…he was alright…being alone…for however long it took…to do…to find…that person…he would be alone…alone….

Kanda scowled. In actuality he knew that it would be nice to share a relationship with someone…something that wasn't merely physical, but emotional as well. But Kanda being Kanda, he would never admit this aloud to anyone, and even then he was hesitant to recognize it, even in his heart of hearts. But still, such feelings couldn't be denied…completely. To a certain extent yes, but they couldn't be avoided forever.

"Hey, Yuu." Kanda blinked as he stopped thinking so deeply and once more became aware of the world around him. He turned to glare at whoever had called him by his first name, only to see Lita there. He looked around for Lavi, but couldn't see him.

"We're almost there Yuu." Lita said, and it was then that Kanda realized that it was Lita who had called him that. He narrowed his eyes at her.

"What did I say about calling me that?"

"About calling you what, Yuu?" Lita asked innocently

"About calling me 'Yuu'. I don't want to be called by that!"

"Well it is your name, isn't it?"

"Wh-Yeah, it is but-"

"Would you prefer it if I called you Yuu-chan?"

"Yuu-chan?" Lavi echoed several seats down, somehow able to hear Lita and Kanda's conversation. Kanda's eyes widened comically, and he could've sworn at that moment, that if it was possible to choke on air, he would've done so.

"_Yuu-chan? Yuu-chan?"_ he nearly roared, bolting up in his seat "Woman, if you ever call me that again, I'll-" he seethed.

"Alright, alright." Lita said, holding up her hands in the air helplessly. She got up and started down the aisle, but as soon as Kanda sat down (and when she was a safe distance away) she smirked.

"Don't fall asleep again…Yuu-chan."

"_WOMAN!"_

* * *

><p>They finally arrived at the station, and luckily, or perhaps miraculously, no one was missing any limbs or had suffered serious bodily harm. After getting off, they met their Finder, Michael, a young man around their age or so. He greeted them warmly, probably relieved to see the Exorcists arrive at last.<p>

Lavi and Bookman hunkered down in the small waiting shelter of the train station, and Lavi convinced Lita to join them. However, Kanda made it apparent that he wanted to find the Innocence as quickly as possible, while Lavi, Allen, and Bookman all seemed content to wait out the blizzard.

"Kanda, maybe we should wait this one out!" Allen shouted over the raging winds. Kanda turned back to him, scowling.

"Well maybe you ought to just stay here, moyahsi! In fact, why don't you go build a snowman or something." he snapped, then turned around and set out east again.

"Wait! We'll come with you!" Allen said, and in doing so, he spoke for the entire group, to Lavi and Lita's dismay. The redheaded Exorcist got up from the bench he had been sitting on inside of the station and shrugged "Guess we're going out into the blizzard then."

Shortly after that they began trekking out into the snow, pushing against the harsh, cold winds which were blowing opposite of the way they were heading-in other words, the snow and wind was hitting them in the face.

Lita shivered and pulled up the hood of her jacket, but it did little good. She could feel the bitter cold penetrate her body even through the thick Exorcist coat and her black denim jeans. It also didn't help that Lita was used to warm and hot climates, rather than climates where the temperature was so low that it snowed.

After some time, or at least what felt like forever to Lita, Lavi tripped and fell forward. Alarmed, the female Exorcist rushed to his side and helped him up, asking if he was alright.

"This is going to end up being one of those things where we all freeze to death and they don't find our bodies until the spring when the snow melts." he sniffled, teeth chattering, body shaking.

"You mean like these two?" Kanda's voice cut through the snow, cold as the frozen water that was pelting them. Lita looked up from Lavi to see two people lying in the snow, nearly half buried.

"Oh no! We've got to help them!" Allen said, rushing to their side. Lavi got up and assisted Allen with picking up the two people, a girl and an older man. Kanda eyed them steadily.

"I'm going to go ahead and continue searching for the Innocence." he stated, then took off again.

"Hey Yuu, wait…!" Lavi shouted, but just sighed, shaking his head "C'mon Allen, let's get these two to the nearest inn."

Allen nodded, and began carrying the girl that he held in his arms. Lita stayed frozen for a moment, then started after Kanda.

"W-Wait, Lita! Where are you going?" Allen yelled over the fierce wind.

"I'm going after Yuu! I'll search with him. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine on my own." she smiled reassuringly, then took off after Kanda. The stoic Exorcist didn't even glance back at her when she caught up with him.

"What are you doing, woman?"

"I'm going to search for the Innocence with you." she stated, walking by his side.

"Just don't slow me down. And if anything happens to you, I'll leave you for dead."

"Big words coming from a guy with a tiny dick." she mumbled

"What?"

"Uh, n-nothing."

Kanda narrowed his eyes at her, but just faced forward again, grumbling about how he got stuck with such an incompetent woman. After a while Lita couldn't help but wonder how they were going to find the Innocence just by walking in the blizzard, and questioned Kanda about it.

"The Innocence is hidden, so we have to search for it." he snapped "It could be in anything, a rock, a tree-even the earth itself."

"And we have no way of pinpointing a specific location?" she asked.

"No, it could be anywhere. But we'll know when we find it. Raw Innocence gives off a green glow."

"Yeah, I can _totally_ see a faint green glow off in the distance." Lita said sarcastically, drawing her Exorcist coat closer to her body "Aren't you the least bit cold?"

Kanda didn't reply to this, he merely kept on walking.

'_This is getting us nowhere.'_ she thought despairingly, nearly stopping. She breathed deeply and picked up the pace so as not to fall behind, though in that instant she thought she sensed something.

'_What…was that?'_

Lita frowned, facing the north. It almost felt like a small tug-something subtle yet noticeable, something that bothered her almost like an itch. There was something out there, something to the north, something that felt almost as if it were calling out to her. She couldn't quite place the feeling, but she knew, as if instinctively, that the Innocence could be in that direction.

"Oi, Kanda!" she shouted "I think-I think might know where the Innocence is."

At the latter words he whipped around, shocked.

"Where?" he demanded, rushing back to her side. Lita pointed to the north, trying to place where the feeling felt the strongest.

"I think this way. I…I feel something…almost like a tug. As if something is telling me-no calling out to me. But it might not be the Innocence. I mean, there hasn't been anyone who can hone in on it, is there? Is that an actual ability?"

"No, as far as I know of, I've never heard of anyone with that kind of power. But it's worth a try. Even if it's just Akuma, we'll take care of them then search for the Innocence again." he answered, and set off in the direction to which she had pointed to. The two Exorcists pushed through the storm, both growing colder and colder.

But the feeling in Lita grew stronger, the tug to the place growing. She relayed this to Kanda, who actually seemed rather pleased about this, though if it really was the Innocence that would only be a natural reaction.

The storm only worsened rather than letting up, the winds growing even fiercer, the snow becoming more heavy and thick. Lita remembered that the more still a person was, the faster they'd grow cold, so as they walked she made unnecessary movements such as swinging her arms and running in circles (which Kanda made several snide remarks on, until he collapsed). She convinced Kanda to run towards the source of the tug and before they knew they had run into the mouth of a cave.

"D-damn." Kanda panted, brushing the snow off of his jacket. He straightened up, looking around. The walls, floor, and ceiling of the roof seemed to be coated in ice. Stalagmites rose from the ground while stalactites hung from the ceiling. Both Exorcists eyed the razor sharp stalactites wearily, though the pressed on. The cave wasn't a long one, actually it was relatively short.

Kanda glanced over at Lita "Well, woman? What about that feeling from earlier?"

"It feels really strong, actually, it's…" Lita trailed off when she saw the intense bright light radiating from what appeared to be the end of the cave. She and Kanda shared a look, then nodded and took off running towards it. Lita shielded her eyes, blinking several times until her vision adjusted, allowing her to get a view of what was at the end of the cave.

There was a large circular space, the walls all coated in ice, the ground coated in powdery snow just like outside of the cave. But at the center of the large space was a tree. Though it wasn't just some ordinary tree. No, this tree was perfectly healthy, it's branches full and green, thriving amidst the harsh winter environment. In fact, the leaves were such a vibrant green that it almost seemed that they glowed faintly…

"That must be the…" Lita trailed off. Kanda nodded in reply.

"Yeah. That's definitely the Innocence." he said and jogged halfway to the tree, stopping a short distance from it. He approached it slowly, placing his hand on the trunk-

Only to be blown back to Lita by a hot, intense, powerful wind. He winced painful as he landed on his back, skidding several feet and stopping right by Lita's side.

"Are you okay?" she asked, leaning down by him, checking to see if he was bleeding. It seemed not, but she suspected that he'd have several bruises on his back after going through that.

"Damn tree." he muttered angrily, standing up and unsheathing his sword. As if sensing his violent intent, the tree sent out several more gusts of hot wind, blowing fiercely and pressing the two Exorcists back. Kanda slashed down angrily, cutting through the hot wind, but it only returned stronger than before.

He was about to leap above the gusts and straight to the tree, so he could cut it open, but Lita's hand shot out, grabbing his wrist. He jerked his wrist out of her grip, snarling at her.

"What the hell are you doing, woman?"

"Put your sword away."

"_What?_"

"Just do it!"

Kanda glared at her for several seconds, then reluctantly sheathed Mugen. Almost instantly, the wind died down. He glared at Lita, reluctantly acknowledging that it was a good idea.

"But what now?" he questioned. Lita held up her hand as if to silence him. She walked toward the tree, Kanda watching her with narrowed eyes, expecting her to get blown back as he did. Was she truly that stupid? Didn't she see what had happened to him when he just _touched_ the damn tree? Well, it wasn't his problem if she got tossed back like he did, it would be her own fault.

Yet, part of Kanda hesitated, wanted to stop her from sustaining injury, even if it was just a few minor bruises. A small part of him, or even more than a small part of him, felt reluctant to let her go ahead like that and risk injury. While Kanda wasn't chivalrous or anything, that idiot Tiedoll _had_ managed to instill a small bit of something akin to chivalry in him, though he usually never showed it, if at all even. Still, his pride as a man felt bad about letting a woman attempt something that would most likely get her hurt…even if she was making the choice herself.

He watched as Lita cautiously approached the tree, hesitantly extending a hand out to its trunk and laying her hand there. Kanda waited for her to be blown back, for the tree to have some sort of bitch-fit, but nothing of the sort happened.

'_Son of bitch…you've _got_ to be kidding me. The stupid ass tree doesn't like me, but it's just freaking loves her? Goddamnit, could this day get any worse?'_ Kanda honestly didn't want his last question answered, but was still in partial awe that the tree was actually letting her touch it. He assumed that it could've had something to do with her Innocence type, that being the only thing that came to mind. Though, then again she had managed to hone in on the Innocence, so could that mean that maybe…

Lita sighed as she closed her eyes. The moment she touched the tree, she understood why it had attacked Kanda. Out of fear that he would take the Innocence, thus killing it. Naturally, it was predictable that the tree wanted to live, and there was nothing wrong with that except that the Innocence…well, they needed it, and Lita was pretty sure that Kanda wasn't going to accept 'no' for an answer.

"I'm sorry, but I'll try to do this quickly." she whispered, cupping both hands and pushing against the trunk.

Kanda gasped softly when he saw the tree trunk ripple and give way to Lita's hands as if it were made of water, and he was even more stunned when she pulled out the Innocence.

'_That woman…'_

He watched the tree wilt, which was natural, after all. There was no way a tree that looked like it came from a warmer climate cold survive in the harsh cold terrain here without the Innocence. He walked over to where Lita stood, Innocence in her cupped hands, glowing softly.

Kanda took his golem out of his pocket where he had been keeping it safe, and let it eat the Innocence so that it could stay there for safekeeping until they arrived at the Order, where he could give it to Hevlaska.

"…Your might be useful, woman." he said simply, and walked away. Lita blinked.

'_Was that a compliment?'_ she wondered. Perhaps as much a compliment one could get from Kanda.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Allen." Lavi said as he pulled up a chair next to the white haired boy "You think Lita and Yuu are alright?"<p>

"Hm? I'm not worried about Kanda so much as I am about Lita. I mean, she is…a…"

"A what?" Lavi cocked his head to the side questioningly.

"She is a girl…I mean, she's not as strong as Kanda or anything." Allen muttered, but Lavi burst out laughing. Allen glared at him "What?"

"Oh Allen, Allen, Allen…you have _a lot_ to learn."

"What do you mean?"

"First off, drop that sexist attitude-it isn't gonna get you anywhere with any girl in the Order. Second, I'm sure Lita is a lot tougher that you think she is. Just the look in her eyes, the way she holds herself-it says a lot. It tells me 'Hey, I'll be nice and all, but you mess with me, and I'll skin you alive'. I doubt she has trouble keeping up with Yuu, but I am worried about the both of them. Though trust me, anything Yuu can handle, Lita can handle too."

"How can you tell?" Allen asked, frowning.

"You didn't see Lita and Kanda's first encounter, did you?" Bookman questioned, coming into the room, startling both Allen and Lavi.

"Jeez ya old panda, you're gonna give me a heart attack!"

Bookman paid no heed to Lavi's comment, merely focusing on Allen "Lavi was right when he spoke of Lita. She also seems to be adept at hand to hand combat, as she was able to dodge Kanda's blows in front of the Order upon their first meeting (if I remember correctly, that was something you yourself failed to do as you were cornered in less than a minute, despite being armed, whereas Lita wasn't) and was nearly able to break his arm almost with ease. In fact, now that I think about it, the way she moved reminded me of a skilled assassin…" Bookman trailed off.

Lavi and Allen shared the same look of awe.

"Did you say…skilled assassin?"

"Huh? Well, perhaps I'm over thinking it, but there could be a possibility that Miss Lita was or is a highly trained and skilled assassin."

"…See Allen? Told ya Lita-chan can take care of herself!"

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><p><strong>AN:<strong> and, that's a wrap. thanks to animadicct'123, sakura2112, and Serah Sinsyres for reviewing and also to anyone who faved this story or added it to their SA. and to Serah, me think that romance you'll be wantin' will be coming up in the next chapter, which will be continuing this one! (that's right-they don't get off the hook that easily!) sry, but this felt like the slowest update EVAR…I'll try to be consistent and post within a time frame of about a min. of two days to a max. of a week. so expect an update anywhere between there. should I mention that I ALWAYS feel more motivated when I get more reviews :3 so don't forget to review! also, just for the heck of it, I decided to write up this little omake when I was bored. I'm pretty anxious since I'll be going with GiantFlyingSquirrel to the California State Fair in about two days from now, and we are gonna LIVE IT UP! ROLLER COSTERS, WOOHOO~! so yeah, I just wanted to get in an update before I head up to Sac and have a ton of fun with mah best bud XD. I've tried to make less typos and spelling errors with this chapter, as with the last one it was 12 in the morning, my mom was yelling at me, and I was really trying hard to update as soon as possible. with this one I'm taking my time a bit more. I'd also like to add that I don't speak Latin, and this is pretty much online translations and what not, so if you speak Latin, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on something, just don't be a jerk. Well that's pretty much it for now so…OMAKE TIME!

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><p><em>Wana- Japanese for 'trap'<em>

* * *

><p>Kanda stood before Lita, glaring at her angrily.<p>

"What is this woman?" he demanded.

"What is this? You tell me. You're just trying to trick me."

"Wh-What? What the hell are you saying, woman?"

"I _know_ this is a trick. I know it so much, I almost don't know." she said.

"Trick? Are you going crazy woman? There is no 'trick' or whatever and I'm not trying to-"

"You're right, there is no trick, but there is a trap. This is a trap. Definitely a trap." she said suddenly. Kanda stared at her incredulously.

"Trap? Oh, so now it's a trap. I swear to God, I'm not trying to set up some dumbass trap. How the hell would I set up a trap?"

"You're lying. This is definitely a trap."

"…" Kanda sighed, rubbing his temples "You know something. I can't even remember why I came here, because now I have a fucking _migraine_ thanks to you."

"No, this is all part of your elaborate plan. First, you try to convince me it's not a trick, then a trap, and you continually deny it. Then you complain of a migraine thus distracting me from your trap which you continue to deny so as to catch me off guard so then you may start the second to third part of your well-thought out, long-planned trap." Lita explained.

"…That has got to be the most ridiculous shit I've ever heard."

"And you've got to be the most ridiculous shit I've ever seen." Lita replied. A vein bulged in Kanda's forehead as his fingers twitched toward Mugen.

"I can see your trap, it's oblivious. That's how oblivious your trap is. A very oblivious trap, so oblivious, I can barely even see it."

"Woman…" Kanda growled, but Lita just started to laugh.

"Okay, okay, I was just messing with you. Sorry, but it was too good to resist."

"Why are _you_ here?" Kanda questioned. The two Exorcists were standing in a semi-narrow hall that led to the stock inventory for the Black Order. Kanda didn't know they had one of those, much less did he care. But for some odd reason he'd come down here to get something…maybe someone from the science division asked him to get something? He couldn't remember either way. Stupid woman, and her stupid distractions…

"I came down here to get something Komui asked me to get." Lita replied "Could you move…yeah, to the side." Lita placed her hands on his shoulders, guiding him to the left so she could get by "Perfect."

Kanda suddenly felt a drop in gravity and Lita as well as the hall disappeared, replaced by darkness. It took him a few seconds to realize what was happening.

"Daaammnnn yyyyyooouuuuu wwoooommaaaaannnn." he screamed as he plummeted further down, finally landing in the canal. Lita grinned as she looked at the trap door, laughing.

"Dumbass, you totally fell for my trap."

* * *

><p>Kanda: Woman, why are the chapter titles in <em>Latin<em> but the omakes are in _Japanese_? #_

Lita: I dunno. Ask the author. _

Kanda: Fine. Hey, author girl, why are the chapter titles in Latin but your cruddy omakes are in Japanese? #_

Hal: Firstly…my omakes are _not_ cruddy Kanda. The only thing cruddy around here is your sense of humor. ^o^

Kanda: *twitches and reaches for Mugen* ##_

Hal: Secondly, your question…well, omakes are intended to be light and humorous, and considering you're a feather-brained idiot and the biggest fool of all, I saw it as fitting to make the omake titles Japanese. You know, since your Japanese and all. XD

Kanda: …*summons Mugen's First Illusion* ###o_o DIE!

Lita: Um…you might wanna run author-dono. o_o

Hal: *grabs Allen to use as a shield* Don't forget to review people, or else Kanda might come after you with Mugen! *blocks First Illusion using Allen* :D

Allen: Agh! The pain! Review so Kanda will stop attacking me-Ouch! Ow! *being bitten by First Illusion creatures* Please review! DX …Please? ;_;


	8. Cicatrix

_Cicatrix- Scar_

* * *

><p>"At least the storm stopped." Lita mumbled, Kanda ignoring her. All that mattered now was that they had the Innocence. But, there could easily be Akuma in this area that would kill them for the Innocence, which was why Kanda was on edge.<p>

"Kanda, you're going the wrong way." Lita said flatly as the stoic Exorcist continued north. He shot a glare at her over his shoulder.

"This is the right way, woman. How would you even know if we were going the right way? Everything looks the same." he argued.

"Okay, firstly, how would _you_ know that we're going the right way based on 'everything looks the same' and secondly, we're heading northeast when we need to go southwest." she told him.

"If you want to think that, then fine, but I won't go looking for you when you get lost."

Lita repressed a sigh as she continued to follow Kanda. This guy was an expert at getting lost. If there was a contest for oneself getting lost, Kanda would win first place, second place, and third place. Still, Lita couldn't leave him to wander off on his own, so she continued to follow him.

Kanda wandered into the forest, tromping through the snow angrily. How dare that woman accuse him of being lost! He knew perfectly where he was and where he was going! He wasn't lost in the slightest! Kanda was so caught up in his angry thoughts that he didn't notice the empty space where the ground seemed to end only five feet before him.

"Yuu! Wait!" Lita cried, running after him. He turned his head, not even looking where he was going, stepping right over the ledge. His head whipped back, eyes wide as he finally caught sight of what he had been ignoring. A steep, flat-faced cliff that led down to a large frozen pond. And he had just stepped over the edge.

Kanda flailed, trying to keep his balance, but he was already falling forward. Luckily, he caught hold of something warm, yet it wasn't enough for him to keep his balance, and his body still fell over the cliff. Or so he thought.

Looking up, Kanda saw Lita grabbing his hand so that he wouldn't fall onto the ice which was roughly sixty feet below them. She held onto a rough looking tree branch for support, so she wouldn't fall over with him. She winced when she felt the rough bark cut into her hand, drawing a small amount of blood.

"Woman…" Kanda breathed, taken aback that she actually saved him rather than letting him fall. Lita seemed to catch on to his surprise by his voice and the look on his face.

"What?" she grumbled, annoyed that he thought she was petty enough to let a comrade possibly die just because of an argument "Don't look so surprised."

She started to pull Kanda up, at the same time, pulling heavily on the tree branch. It creaked and groaned in protest, clearly telling them that it could barely sustain the weight of the two teens. Kanda looked from the splitting tree branch to Lita.

"Woman, let go of me. I'll be fine."

"What? There's no way you'd be fine after a fall like that!" Lita exclaimed, gripping his hand even harder as if to say 'There's no chance in hell that I'm letting you go'.

"I told you I'll be fine. The fall won't be a big deal for me, I can handle it." he argued. Since his body was modified, a jump or fall of sixty feet really wouldn't be a big deal for him. He found that it would be too hard to explain this to Lita, but at the same time he found he was probably going to have a harder time convincing her that he'd be okay.

So Kanda went with the third option. Forcefully prying his hand out of hers.

"Yuu, don't!" she nearly begged him, glancing back at the tree branch. There was no way she could let go of it unless she wanted to fall with him. She was practically on the very edge of the cliff, making it impossible to grab him with both hands.

"I-can-survive-the-fall-woman!" he grunted. Damn, she must've been pretty intent on not letting him fall. While he usually didn't appreciate such sentiments and more than often found them annoying, he couldn't say that he was touched but maybe…honored? No, that wasn't it…it was something else, something unfamiliar to him.

"Just-let-go!" he pushed harder, but Lita just held on tighter.

"Even if you did survive the fall, the ice would most likely break."

"Pft." he rolled his eyes "As if. That ice looks solid to me."

He managed to free his hand at last, breaking Lita's grip. As he fell back, Lita lunged forward as much as she possibly could to regain her grip on his hand. Her fingers only glanced his knuckles, and then he disappeared from her sight.

"No! _Damnit!_" she let out of stream of colorful curses, some directed at the Japanese Exorcist. She regained her footing as well as her balance, slackening her grip on the low hanging tree branch. Peering over the edge, she saw, to her dismay, a hole in the ice giving way to the dark water beneath.

"Shit." she muttered. This was exactly what she had tried to warn Kanda about, but that idiot was too stubborn to listen to her reasoning.

'_I swear to…whatever deity may exist, that idiot has a sense of logic that's as twisted as an onion ring.'_ Lita thought. To date, Lita couldn't think of a single instance where Kanda produced a good, sound idea.

She figured she might as well head down to make sure he wouldn't wander off another cliff this time around when he finally got out. Though she seriously doubted he'd be able to walk very long with wet clothes in this kind of weather. Even though it had stopped snowing, the biting cold had yet to disappear completely.

Lita found a steep incline that led to the bottom, and after some hassle and careful navigating she was able to reach the edge of the pond without injury. She expected to see Kanda standing on the bank, dripping wet and shaking. The female Exorcist was surprised not to see him there, growing worried.

"There's no way he could…no, he has to be messing with me." she mumbled to herself, scanning the area for distinctive blue hair, the black Exorcist coat, just anything that would give away Kanda's presence. Lita glanced back at the hole nervously. There weren't any bubbles rising to the surface, no indication that Kanda could still be down there.

"Hey, Yuu! This isn't funny, Yuu!" she shouted, turning around "Seriously, just stop messing around!"

There was no response.

"C'mon, enough joking around!" she shouted again "Really, Yuu…"

Lita looked back at the hole and the dark water.

"Damn!" she nearly screamed, tearing off her Exorcist coat, throwing it aside, kicking off her shoes as she ran, slipping and sliding across the ice. How long had Kanda been under? A minute, a minute and a half, two even? The average adult could hold their breath underwater for a minute, maybe a little over that, and sometimes even two or more minutes. If Kanda would be able to hold his breath for that long, then hopefully he wouldn't…

Lita took a deep breath, jumping in headfirst into the water. It took all the willpower in her to not scream as the icy water, so cold that it burned, touched her bare skin, soaking through her clothes almost the moment she dove in.

She frantically scanned the murky water, looking for any sign of her comrade. A dull flash glinted in the corner of her eye, catching her attention. She spun around, looking below her and to her horror she saw Kanda, yet the stoic Exorcist was clearly unconscious, a faint trail of blood rising up from his head.

She swan towards him, willing her limbs to move with every fiber of her being, despite them already going numb from the cold. Once she reached Kanda, she grabbed hold of his arm, pulling it around her neck, and kicked with all her might, propelling the two of them towards the light that was the surface where the ice had broken.

Upon resurfacing, Lita made it her first priority to get Kanda out of the water. His body felt almost as cold as the icy liquid which he had nearly drowned in, and he mostly likely wasn't breathing.

Lita heaved Kanda out of the water onto the ice, then pulled herself up and laid her head against his chest. He definitely wasn't breathing. She folded her fingers together in the appropriate gesture for CRP and pressed up and down continuously on his chest, measuring her timing carefully. After nearly a whole minute, she stopped and checked again. Still no breathing.

Lita was reluctant to resort to mouth-to-mouth, but this was a life and death situation. So she opened Kanda's mouth and leaned down hesitantly.

'_Here goes nothing.'_

* * *

><p>Kanda's world had gone dark only a few seconds after he'd fallen through the ice. He hadn't even the time to realize that damn woman was right and that he should've listened to her.<p>

Oh well.

Gradually, sound was filtering back into his ears as he slowly regained consciousness. He felt as if he were choking, as if there were a heavy pressure inside him. He coughed and gagged, the taste of bitter water strong in his mouth. It hurt too much to open his eyes. The light was far too painful and bright for him. Slowly though, his eyes refocused, his vision blurring. He dazedly looked to the side where he could hear some noise.

"_Yuu…Yuu…_" the noise sounded faint, blurred. A person, a something was right above him. Whoever it was, the light enveloped that figure, in a way so beautiful he could've mistaken the figure for an angel.

'_Is it? Did I die?'_ he wondered to himself. He knew he couldn't die until he found that person…yet…strangely, that didn't matter. Nothing mattered now, except that pretty angel thing. He felt so light and warm-it was such a wonderful feeling, almost as if he were floating. All the pain was gone, and it was just him, the light, and the beautiful angel person.

"Take me away beautiful angel person." he muttered happily, then passed out again.

But before the darkness swallowed him, Kanda smiled idiotically. How lucky he was to have a beautiful angel person with him.

* * *

><p>'<em>Holy fucking shit, he's really screwed up.'<em> Lita thought in panic. Clearly Kanda had gone without air for a time that was far beyond his limit. If he was rambling on about a 'beautiful angel person' and smiling like a druggie who was high, then he had to be really messed up. Fortunately, he was now breathing. Unfortunately, he was obliviously confused due to lack of oxygen and now unconscious. Again.

Lita grabbed her shoes, shoved them on, then threw her jacket over Kanda, hefted him onto her back, managing to carry him piggyback-style. The wind was starting to pick up, and large snowflakes were descending from the sky. The telltale signs of another blizzard. Even without the blizzard, if they didn't find shelter soon as they were, they'd both freeze to death. And freezing to death with Kanda was at the bottom of Lita's list of things to do, which meant she was hellbent on getting them both to safety.

'_But the inn where Lavi, Allen, and the others is too far away. If there was some kind of traveler's cabin nearby, or just any place we could take shelter in.'_ Lita bit her lower lip anxiously. She scanned the area once more as she stepped onto the bank, but visibility was slowly being limited by the thickening snowfall.

'_If only…'_

Lita blinked when she saw something black flutter past her face.

'_That's…'_

It was Kanda's golem. The bat-winged black and white ball flew around her and Kanda, more specifically Kanda, as if to say it was worried about him.

"Hey, could you find us some shelter nearby? Kanda could die if he isn't tended to soon." Lita told the black golem. In response, in flew off and disappeared into the thickening snow fall. Lita prayed the golem could understand what she was saying, and if so, would return soon. Otherwise, she and Kanda really might freeze to death.

Lita shivered and pulled the jacket draped on Kanda closer to his body, so it could reach her as well. The cold was amplified, made even worse by the wet clothes she was wearing, as well as her soaking wet companion resting against her back. Kanda seemed blissfully oblivious to all, soundly unconscious still. At least he'd die without feeling anything. Lita heard that freezing to death wasn't such a bad way to die, as far as the experience went. To her, that just made it all the more scary.

Just as Lita was starting to doubt that Kanda's golem would return, she spotted the small speck of black through the heavy snow. It fluttered frantically about her, then flew several yards to the south. Lita assumed it had found shelter, and followed after it. She broke into a run, trying to keep pace with the bat-winged golem, but it wasn't exactly easy considering the golem's owner was resting unconscious on her back.

After several minutes of running after Kanda's golem, Lita came to a stop as the golem did the same. Before her she saw a small wooden log cabin that seemed to be vacated yet perfectly usable.

"I better not be hallucinating." she murmured, stepping forward. She tried the door and found it unlocked. She opened it, allowing Kanda's golem to flutter inside after her, then closed it once she was in and locked it behind her.

Dropping Kanda to the floor, Lita fumbled around numbly, happening upon a book of matches. After locating what seemed to be the fireplace, Lita got a fire going. With the fireplace lit, light illuminated the interior, revealing a plain double bed and some other worn, plain looking furniture.

Lita turned her attention to Kanda after making sure the fire had enough wood to keep it burning for awhile. She began with taking off his wet clothes (to her more than slight discomfort) then tended to his wound. Afterwards, she stripped herself of her own wet clothes, hanging them in front of the fireplace to dry.

'_This could be a long night.'_ she thought tiredly, glancing at her sleeping companion.

* * *

><p>"Couldn't find them?" Allen questioned almost immediately after Lavi and Michael walked in. Both the Exorcist and Finder shook their heads.<p>

"Nope. Sorry. But hey, cheer up! I'm sure they're fine!" Lavi said brightly.

"The innkeeper and his wife told us earlier that they had a cabin built on their property in the woods for travelers. Perhaps they settled down there to wait out the storm." Michael suggested.

About an hour or so ago, maybe less, Allen and Lavi had run into three level two Akuma. They were nearly beaten and managed to escape, but narrowly. If it hadn't been for the lucky shot Lavi had gotten in, they might've been dead. While Allen was worried about the other two Exorcists encountering the Akuma, Lavi consoled him.

"Don't worry, Yuu's a capable fighter as you know, and Lita seems like she could probably hold her own. And they're probably together anyway, so there's nothing to worry about." the redhead told the younger Exorcist, yet Allen couldn't quite shake off the feeling that something had gone awry.

Elda and her father were still at the inn, waiting out the storm patiently with the Exorcists.

"Really Allen, don't stress over it. Just worry about yourself." Lavi said, ruffling his hair playfully. Allen had nearly collapsed from exhaustion after using so much energy in that fight. It probably would've gone a whole lot smoother if Kanda or Lita, or both had been present.

Still, Allen couldn't shake the feeling that something had happened to either Lita or Kanda, or maybe both. Lavi's lips tugged downwards into a small frown when he saw Allen was still worrying.

Personally, Lavi was thinking that something had happened to the other two Exorcists, but nonetheless, was confident that they were still okay, probably just stuck wherever they were due to the blizzard.

'_Knowing Yuu, they'll be alright. I know it.'_ Lavi thought as he stared out the window into the raging storm outside.

* * *

><p>"Ugh…" Kanda groaned as he slowly regained consciousness. The first thing he was aware of was that he was that he was warm, and wherever he was, it was soft and cozy. Secondly, he realized that he was naked.<p>

Bolting upright, Kanda scanned the small room he was in and found Lita wrapped in a blanket, sitting by the fireplace.

"Woman…" he muttered, vaguely recalling what had happened. He had fallen off the cliff and into the water…but then what? Who pulled him out? He realized that Lita wasn't wearing any clothes, and rapidly came to one conclusion.

"You fell in too? So who rescued us?"

Lita slapped her face with the palm of her hand, groaning at Kanda's idiotic logic.

"_You_ fell in and when _I_ realized that you hadn't come up once I reached the bank after about a minute or two, _I_ dove into the _freaking-freezing-ass water to save you!_"

"…"

"You can't swim, can you?"

"Shutup woman!" Kanda sneezed, pulling the blanket wrapped around him tighter. Well that explained quite a bit. Like why he had no clothes on.

"You've got to be the most impossible person to work with, you know that? I saved you from drowning in freezing water, hauled your ass all the way from the pond to here when I was soaking wet, during some kind of-of semi-blizzard or something-!"

"…" Kanda was silent as he listed to her rant. It wasn't his fault…okay, so basically all of it was his fault, but there was no way he was going to admit that aloud, especially to this woman. Still…he guessed it wouldn't be so bad if he did manage to utter thanks to her. He knew that quite a few of his former companions and comrades would leave him to drown, and yet after he'd been a total jerk to her, Lita still went in to save him.

Kanda frowned. When had he started thinking like that? Usually he didn't give a shit, so why bother now?

"Hey…woman…"

"…"

"…Th…Than…Thank…"

"Whatever, I know you're incapable of saying it, so just forget it." Lita sighed, closing her eyes tiredly.

"Thanks!" he blurted, nearly yelling. Lita jumped a little, jolted by the sudden noise and hearing someone say something that should've been impossible for them to say. A small smirk tugged at the corners of Lita's mouth, irking Kanda.

"What is it woman? What's so funny?"

"So do you want to thank me, or the beautiful angel person?" she laughed, nearly doubling over. Kanda stared at her like she was crazy.

"What the hell are you-" Kanda started to ask, but his golem suddenly flew right before his face and opened its mouth, projecting an image. No, the image was moving. It was a video.

Kanda leaned forward to see himself looking half dead lying on the ice, Lita by his side. The expression on his face was that of idiotic bliss, something which frightened Kanda. Was that what Lita was talking about? Suddenly he saw himself look over to Lita and grin and say "Take me away beautiful angel person." all while muttering about the 'beautiful angel person'.

"How the…WHY THE HELL DON'T I REMEMBER THAT?" Kanda roared, scaring away his golem. Lita was now double over laughing, struggling to stay in her chair.

"Woman." he growled

"You had suffered from oxygen deprivation, going without a breath of air way past your limit. I don't know how long you can hold your breath, but it was long after that limit when I pulled you out." Lita stopped laughing when she remembered Kanda's lifeless body. She wasn't sure why she cared so much, but she did. She cared whether he lived or died…almost as if she…

'_, I don't love him. Oh god no, I DON'T love him. I don't even LIKE him that much.'_ she thought, pausing in her explanation to Kanda, but a few moments later, she continued.

"I had to give you CPR after I pulled you out because you weren't breathing."

"Wait, CPR? What kind? The chest-pushy kind, or the mouth-to-mouth kind?" Kanda questioned.

"Both." she answered calmly, watching his expression as she told him.

"So we…"

"No it's not kissing, Yuu. It's called 'saving someone because the other person was stupid enough to fall off a cliff, through ice, and into freezing water even though they can't swim'."

"Shutup woman."

Lita sighed again. This wasn't taking them anywhere. She picked up two bowls and ladled some soup from the pot over the fireplace into each one. She got up, careful to keep her blanket wrapped around her and handed Kanda his bowl with a spoon, then grabbed her own bowl, pulling up her chair closer to the bed where Kanda laid.

The Japanese Exorcist took an experimental spoonful of the soup and swallowed it. He was faintly surprised. The soup was quite delicious, slightly thick, hot, and creamy, perfect to ward off the cold.

Once they both finished the soup, Lita took the bowls and laid them by the fireplace, then got into bed with Kanda. Kanda himself wasn't exactly thrilled about it, though once he thought about it, Lita was probably the only person in the world he'd share bed space with.

Even if it had been Leenalee with him, there's no way he could've even been in the same room as her if she was like Lita was presently (not wearing anything save for a blanket), without Komui attempting to kill him afterwards.

Besides…he was starting to feel differently towards Lita then he felt towards Leenalee. Not that such a thought was saying much…no.

Kanda shifted slightly as he felt Lita's body press into his own. They were facing each other, which meant they could clearly see each other's eyes, faces, expressions…

Just as Kanda was about to turn away, he caught sight of something under the blanket that he and Lita were sharing. Some of Lita's skin was exposed showing-

'_A scar?'_ Kanda's lips tugged down as he reached to touch it. His hand was only a centimeter away from her skin when she grabbed his wrist tightly and forced his hand back to his side, quickly covering up the exposed skin. Kanda blinked, looking up at her face, but she had already turned her back to him.

"…" Kanda hesitated to say anything. Clearly the scar was sensitive issue, probably one he shouldn't push, yet something drove him to question her about it. Was it just sheer curiosity? Or was it something else? He hardly even cared about such things to begin with, yet something about her scar…intrigued him.

"Lita." he said softly, putting a hand on her shoulder. She looked past his hand and at him, her expression unreadable.

"I didn't mean to upset you…I was just curious." to say such words, to even hear them coming from his mouth seemed like an alien thing. Since when had he started being genuine, when had he started actually _caring_ and going on with such stupid sentiment with a person he hardly even knew, a person who he hadn't even known for a month. It was insane.

"…" Lita was silent, mentally debating on whether she should show Kanda her scars. Yes, scars as in plural, more than one. But those scars were deeply imbedded into who she was as well as her past, something she was reluctant to share with anyone, much less someone who more than often insulted everyone around him, acted like he didn't give a shit, and had to be one of the most careless idiots Lita had ever known. And even if his failing qualities were replaced with more bearable ones, Lita found it hard to trust people in general.

"Lita?"

"You've said my name twice. Obliviously you're still suffering from the aftereffects of oxygen deprivation. Just get some sleep." she said, letting her head fall back onto the pillow with a soft thump.

Kanda slowly removed his hand from her shoulder, and just as he was about to turn over as well, Lita spoke again.

"Why don't you have any scars though? I find it hard to believe that someone like you wouldn't have at least a few battle scars."

Kanda tensed up beside her at the question. How could he just tell her that he healed faster than others? That would explain nothing about the scars.

"Is it really fair for you to shirk away from me and then ask me something like that?"

"Fine-you tell me what I wanted to know, and I'll tell you what you wanted to know. That should make us even." she said after a moment. Kanda thought about it, trying to think of some way that he could explain his regenerative abilities without going into detail about his horrifying past. He came up with nothing and hoped that Lita just wouldn't pry.

"Fine."

'_This kind of reminds me of when we were on the train-getting back from our first mission together.'_

They both sat up and faced each other, somewhat wearily though, both reluctant to share something so deep about themselves with someone that they deemed a stranger.

"The reason why I don't have any scars is because I have a regenerative ability." Kanda explained, going first "It's the reason why I heal faster than others.

There were more questions Lita wanted to ask, but she refrained from doing so. Kanda had answered her question, and now it was her turn.

Wordlessly, Lita pulled down the blanket she had wrapped around her, revealing her shoulders, her back, and some of the front of her. She loosed the grip on the blanket, keeping it in front of her chest, but otherwise, most of her body was exposed.

Kanda nearly gasped at what he saw.

Scars.

Everywhere.

Everywhere.

Scars covered her entire body, not small ones, but large ones that looked as if they had cut deeply into the skin, scars that looked like the remnants life threatening wounds. There were scars on her shoulders, scars on her midsection, above her chest, a few on her arms…

Kanda looked into her eyes for a moment, then grasped her shoulders, leaning her into himself, pressing her against his body, but giving him a view of her back. More scars.

Only this seemed to be where she had the largest amount of scars, and the place where she had the greatest amount of life threatening scars. Even Kanda couldn't refrain from wincing. He had his doubts about her before, but this crushed the majority of them. Someone with this many scars, regardless of how they got them, had to be incredibly tenacious and bent on living.

Kanda let her go, allowing her to cover up. He watched her carefully, his mind still reeling from what he had seen. He couldn't remember a time that he'd felt like this before, save for when he had escaped the Asian Branch lab.

The two Exorcists laid back down on the bed, both thinking about what they had been told and what they had seen respectively. Suddenly though, Lita wrapped her arms around Kanda's body, pressing the two of them together. Kanda _almost_ blushed when he felt her breasts pressed against him. Then again, Yuu Kanda just didn't blush that easily.

"Woman, what are you doing?" he asked, trying to keep his voice level.

"I'm cold."

Kanda didn't exactly know how to reply to that, or rather, he couldn't really think of anything to snap at her for, or any reason to push her away. Once he overcame the slight awkwardness of the whole thing, the feeling of the two of them so close was actually pleasant.

'_It's only physical though. There's nothing emotional or sentimental or anything crap like that, about this situation.'_ Kanda said to himself resolutely.

Yet while he denied any sort of emotion that could be described as positive towards Lita, he couldn't quite shake the feeling that he still…well, felt something towards her. Was it respect, maybe? Kanda settled on that, telling himself that he just gained a small degree of slight, minimal respect for this stupid woman's ability to survive. But that was it.

"Hey, Yuu?" Lita's muffled voice sounded from under the covers, as she had pulled them up over her head for extra warmth.

"What?"

"What's your golem's name? I'm kinda tired of calling him 'Yuu's golem'."

"His name? It's Kande."

"…"

"…"

"…To bite? Were you trying to be puny, or is it supposed to actually say something about the golem?"

"Both-well, why do you even care?"

"…It's because your Japanese, isn't it?"

"What?"

"Well, the Japanese do tend to make a lot of puns, so-"

"Stop stereotyping me! Damnit, just because I'm Japanese…" he grumbled. Lita gave no verbal response. Rather, she snuggled into his body more, making Kanda feel uneasy, but at the same time…warm? He shook his head. Tonight, or today (whatever time it was) had been so utterly confusing, filled with the kind of emotions he'd rather avoid.

Unconsciously, he wrapped his arms around Lita's body, feeling the warmth of her body heat as he did so. At this point though, he didn't even notice it. Perhaps Lita had been right. Maybe he was still suffering from the aftereffects of prolonged lack of air, because he didn't feel as if what had occurred was really of his completely conscious doing. Exchanging things about themselves, growing closer to each other (as much as Kanda wanted to deny it, even he couldn't deny that he had grown closer to Lita through the few meaningful interactions that took place, such as her saving his life, and the two of them learning something about the other) just didn't seem like him. So then why…?

Kanda tried to clear all such thoughts from his head. This had truly been one confusing ordeal. He fell asleep not long after Lita, letting the blissful darkness of slumber take him away.

* * *

><p><em>Tenshi- Angel<em>

Lita fell off her chair laughing so hard. Kanda merely scowled at her.

"Shutup woman. I was deprived of oxygen. I wasn't myself."

"Oh god…'beautiful angel person'. So you really think that about me, Yuu? I'm flattered?" she laughed even harder.

"Whatever woman! Don't you dare tell the others about this-I'm serious damnit!"

"Oh my…just oh god…Lavi's going to love this. Allen probably will too."

"Woman!"

"Alright, alright, I won't tell." Lita promised…while crossing her fingers behind her back.

"Fine then-wait. Woman, are you crossing your fingers behind your back?"

"No. Nope." Lita lied, still crossing her fingers behind her back.

"Then let me see your hands."

"Why?"

"Because I want to know where or not-" as Kanda spoke Lita backed away slowly, then bolted off.

"WOMAN!" Kanda roared, tearing after her. Kande flew after them, laughing at the two. What? You didn't know that golems have the unique ability to sense a pairing that will most likely or will happen? Shame on you!

Hal: *crosses fingers will typing* Have fun with your beautiful angel person, Kanda!

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> ugh. *dies then respawns* I felt this chapter was kinda half assed. I kept on getting distracted by a somewhat annoying person who wouldn't let me be as I wrote. but hey, you peoples who wanted romance got it…kind of. idk. just idk. I feel like I've been mind raped, don't know why though… 0_0 also, if there's any typos, sry, this was kinda long, even for me, and the next chapter will be the last chapter for the mission. sadly. oh yeah. I'll try to tone down on the '…''s sry, I know there's a major overkill of those, to the point where you're all sick of it.

anyway, thanks to…well's let check the list of people who reviewed…oh right! thanks to darkwingsofTERRORX, to Psychomantium, GiantFlyingSquirrel, Serah S, and Karmandy for reviewing. And to answer a few of ur questions and shtuff…

Psychomantium: well thanks, and yeah Latin does seem…difficult (I've never studied it so, yeah) but anyway, that's what the translation said and if it's wrong it's wrong. I looked up sword and it WAS gladius, but the translator said to use ensis instead. o wel. erm, _**this is something you should all read anyway:**_ about the may sue thing. I'll try, but no promises. I'm used to working in a community in which most of the OCs are Mary Sues, and in which the anime never stops throwing them at you, so it becomes a norm (Bleach) maybe some of you might disagree with me, but in my opinion, Bleach (both the anime and the ff OC thing) is overflowing with Mary Sues. Personally it never bothered me and since I've watched a lot of anime and read a lot of manga with Mary Sues I just got used to it. I'm not so good with the whole labeling and identifying one though, but I know it's kind of a big deal for some people and they really don't like characters like that. So just a heads up. If my OC becomes a Mary Sue, then sorry, I'll try to fix the problem if I can, and if I can't…then just…oh well *shrugs*.

But on a lighter note~ this is all the romance you'll be getting for awhile. To be, Kanda seemed WAY too freaking OOC in the chapter, even Lita was like…just…ugh. (I really hated this chapter for some reason :( )

Serah S: Aw, thanks. Hahaha…but no, I think Kanda's dead and gone. FOREVER. Sorry, I want to believe that Kanda's alive…I mean, my heart was crying for him in chapter 200, and I was like "F*** Alma! No Kanda-sama, don't leave us! *tear*" or something along those lines. But considering that Hoshino is such a biatch like that, I think that's the last we'll ever see of Kanda, lest there's some sort of flashback or one of those endings where it shows the future (like our present time) and shows that they were all reborn and what not. both GiantFlySquirrel and I have agreed that we both share the same uncanny ability to pick out and favor the character who will die a tragic death and soon or immediately afterwards be forgotten. I really wish Kanda would come back though…I miss him T_T


	9. Hiems

_Hiems-_Winter

Kanda woke a few short hours after having fallen asleep, feeling far better than the last time he had woken up. He hazily noted that someone else was under the covers with him, the unmistakable feel of another's body and the heat from that person's body warming him. It took him a full minute to realize it was Lita.

'_The fu-oh, right. Fell into a frozen pond.'_ he remembered now, having forgotten what had happened before for a moment. Kanda sat up, propping himself up on his elbows and looked at their clothes which were hanging above the fireplace. They looked as if they were dry now.

He started to get up, but a pair of two slender, scarred arms wrapped around his midsection, keeping him from getting off the bed. He looked down behind him, only to see Lita, not even half awake, cuddling him.

"Don' go…keepmewarm." she mumbled, hugging his waist tighter. Kanda blushed furiously, not knowing what to do exactly. He could either push her off, or get back into bed with her for a little longer. Even to Kanda, who was almost always focused on the mission objective, always denying himself the small, slight pleasures that his comrades would indulge in such as rest, right now the latter of his options seemed to be his only option. It wasn't as if he _wanted_ to go out there and freeze his ass off while looking for a fight with the Akuma.

For once, it would be nice to be a bit selfish, and relax a little. While he thought this, a part of his mind pushed against it fiercely, rejecting such a concept. But another part of his mind, the part that was winning, urged him to fall back into bed with Lita. Besides, how many more chances would he get like this one?

With that in mind, Kanda fell back on the pillows, pulling the blanket over him. He wrapped an arm around Lita and drew her sleeping form closer to his. Even now, her arms still remained locked around his hard, muscled yet slim midsection. It would've been a perfect moment, their bodies pressed against one another's, holding each other, yet unfortunately Kanda's actions had woken the young woman.

"Y…Yuu?" she muttered, blinking at his face which was just beginning to come into focus. She blinked the last bits of sleep out of her eyes and sat up, still keeping her blanket wrapped around her upper body.

"Uh…" Kanda didn't know what to do or say in this situation except for get up as fast as he could and put on his clothes. And that was exactly what he did.

Lita blushed lightly, looking away. He could've at least given her some warning or something.

"Are the clothes dry?" she asked, still looking away.

"Yeah." he replied as he shrugged on his Exorcist coat. Kanda caught sight of Lita still looking away and rolled his eyes.

"You can look now. I'm dressed."

Lita looked at him and locked eyes with him. She beckoned him to come over to the bedside, which he did so reluctantly.

"What it is woman-" Kanda was cut off when a blanket was thrown over him, obscuring his vision completely.

"…If you think this is funny…"

"Don't you _dare_ peek while I'm getting dressed, or else I can guarantee you that you'll have scars once I'm done with you."

"Baka onna." he muttered, followed by "Ow! The hell was that for?"

"I can hear you, _baka._ Or should I say Bakanda?"

"Just hurry up and get your clothes on, woman!"

Several minutes passed until Lita was done. Kanda threw the blanket on the bed then grabbed Mugen which was leaning against the wall closest the headboard of the bed. He strapped the chokutou to his back, repositioning it a few times until he was satisfied.

"How's it outside?" he asked as he walked towards the door.

"It's not too bad out…still freezing, but there isn't a snowstorm and it's stopped snowing." Lita said. True enough, there wasn't any snowfall, but most of the earth and trees were still coated in snow. It might've looked pretty, but both Exorcists knew how cold it would be outside and how unpleasant it would be to trek all the way back in that cold.

"You don't think that Lavi and Allen have taken care of the Akuma yet, do you?" Lita wondered aloud as she put out the fire and finished rearranging things.

"Baka Usagi and Moyashi? I seriously doubt it." Kanda snorted, crossing his arms. He couldn't even entertain the faintest idea of Lavi and Allen taking down the all the Akuma in this area.

"I guess we ought to get going then." Lita said, then opened the door. As soon as she did-

"Daaaaaaaamn, its cold." Lita groaned as soon as they stepped outside.

"Q-quit w-whin-n-ning w-w-wom-man." Kanda chattered, trying to keep his teeth from clacking.

"Oh look who's talking!" she muttered, wrapping her arms around her in an attempt to keep from shivering so badly. When the Exorcists passed the lake, Lita looked out over the frozen water and saw that the whole was no longer there. Kanda seemed to notice this and commented on it.

"What? Regretting that you saved me?"

"No. I was just watching the lake."

"Well stop it and keep focused! Watch out for Akuma that might try to ambush us!"

"Oh yeah, 'cause you're just the perfect example of 'focus'. Like for example, when you were so focused that you fell off a cliff."

"Shutup woman."

After that they walked in silence partly because there was nothing more to be said, and partly because Kanda was right about the Akuma thing. Still, Lita couldn't help but become bored and let her mind wander a bit. She really did hope that Lavi and Allen were okay. She also thought briefly about that old man and his daughter, hoping they were alright as well. Finally, he mind came to settle on Kanda, which was no big surprise since he was walking right in front of her.

Lita suddenly had the urge to ask him something when a question came to mind.

"Hey Yuu, how old are you?"

"Why do you ask? It's none of your business."

"I don't know. You do seem kinda tall for a Japanese guy."

"Damnit, stop with the stereotyping!"

"It's not stereotyping. A hundred years in the future, the average height for a Japanese male is 5'6."

"Grr…whatever!"

"So seriously, how old are?"

"…"

"Yuu."

"…"

"Yuu."

"…"

"Yuu-chan Bakanda, answer me!"

Kanda stopped in his tracks and whirled around angrily to tell her to never call him that ever again, but Lita hadn't been prepared for such an action and walked straight into him, making both of them fall over. Kanda wasn't happy when Lita fell on top of him, but he was even less pleased, but more so flustered, when Lita's chest made contact with his face.

Kanda pushed her off of him immediately, glaring daggers at her "I swear, your boobs have a magnetic attraction to my face."

"I'm pretty sure it's the opposite way around." she muttered, glaring back at him. The pair got up, brushing the snow off of themselves, then continued on.

"Really, just tell me how old you are."

"Don't whine."

"I'm not whining."

"Good. Now shutup."

"If you tell me I won't tell Lavi and Allen about after you fell into the ice."

"If you tell them about it, period, I'll run you through."

"There's no 'if' about it, but come within three feet of me with that sword pointed at me, and I'll rip off-" Kanda's facial expression became that of horror as he listened to her explain what she'd do "then stuff it all down your throat."

"That has got to be the most sadistic, insane, evil thing anyone has ever said to me. What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"Oh, I'm flattered. Seriously though, just answer the question."

"Would you actually do tha-"

"I asked you first."

"Woman-"

"Firsties~"

Kanda sighed, seeing this was clearly going nowhere "Fine, I'm nineteen. Satisfied?" he grumbled.

"I guess. Huh."

Kanda usually didn't respond when it was unnecessary, but just this once he did.

"'Huh' what? And what's with that 'I guess'?"

"Nothing. I was just surprised, I suppose."

"What? I don't look my age?"

"I don't know. Its not like I really had any estimation of your age or anything…"

"Hn."

Once more, silence descended upon the pair, and this time it stayed. They continued onwards past the cave where they'd found the Innocence, and back through the forest. The wind started to pick up, bringing the threat of another snow storm. Lita tugged at her jacket, trying to bring it closer to her body to preserve warmth. Kanda on the other hand merely grit his teeth, choosing to ignore the fact that the temperature was dropping again.

Suddenly though, Kande fluttered out from under Kanda's jacket and hovered eyelevel with it's master. The white center glowed red momentarily, before a sound emitted from the black and white golem.

"Kanda? Can you hear me?" Allen's voice asked, occasionally punctuated by static.

"Moyashi. Where are you? Is that idiot rabbit with you?"

"Aw, Yuu does care after all!" Lavi's voice sang, causing a vein to appear on Kanda's forehead.

"Shutup! I just don't want to go looking for either of you again!"

"Looking for us? We were the ones who had to go look for you, Bakanda! And by the way, is Lita with you?" Allen's voice carried a note of concern in the last sentence.

"Yeah, she's with me." Kanda muttered, then "Did you run into any Akuma while we were gone? We've secured the Innocence, so finding the Akuma is the last thing we have to do."

"Well, we did run into three Level 2 Akuma, but I didn't see any other Akuma in the area-wait. What direction are you guys in?"

"How the hell should I know you stupid Moyashi, I'm not a damn compass-" Kanda stopped midsentence, sensing another presence separate from his and Lita's.

"I don't think we're alone anymore." Lita muttered, summoning her Innocence. Likewise, Kanda did the same, drawing Mugen and activating it.

"Listen, we'll meet up with you two at the train station." Kanda stated before Allen or Lavi could reply, then grabbed Kande and tucked the golem securely in his coat. He gripped Mugen tightly with both hands, awaiting the attack from the hidden Akuma.

'_Damnit, I can't pinpoint the presence I'm feeling.'_ Kanda though, scanning the area with sharp eyes. They were out of the forest, in a large clearing that was surrounded by trees. While the space would be advantageous for him and Lita, the openness of the clearing made it an easy target for ambush.

'_Damnit.'_

"Yuu. Sixtey degrees west, five down." Lita barely whispered, the Japanese Exorcist straining to hear her. He followed her directions, and surely enough, spotted a pair of beady, malevolent eyes that could only belong to an Akuma.

'_How did she…'_ Kanda inwardly frowned, but kept up his tense look on the outside, not wanting to alert the Akuma that he knew of its location.

"Wait." he murmured softly to his companion. A minute passed, then two minutes, then three, and finally five. The temperature was dropping again and the wind was picking up more, but despite this, Lita stayed as still as he did. Kanda had to admire that. Even Allen or Lavi wouldn't have been able to do that. Well maybe, but still, he highly doubted it.

Just as Kanda tensed to move forward, a glint caught his eye. He shifted his weight to the side, jumping into the air. Exactly where he and Lita had been standing a second ago, razor sharp icicles filled that space. He glanced to the side, to see Lita land on her feet a few yards away, then looked back at the emerging Akuma. It was fairly large, boasting a spherical blue head attached to a dome shaped blue and white body.

"Hahaha! Die Exorcists, die! And once you're dead, I'll steal all of your Innocence!" it cackled, sending another wave of icicles towards the Exorcists, who once again leaped to avoid the attack. Kanda kicked the ground with all his might as soon as he felt it under his boots, launching himself towards the Akuma at high speed. It was a good move, and would've worked if there hadn't been a second Akuma lying in wait, whose attack caught him in the side.

"Augh!" Kanda rolled in the snow several yards, trying to refrain from clutching his side which was throbbing painfully, and undoubtedly bleeding. Kanda got to his knees, gripping Mugen in his right hand, but he froze when a large shadow was cast over him. He gritted his teeth, knowing he was screwed.

"Bye bye, Exor-ah…ci…..st….." Kanda looked up, only to see Lita cleaving through the Akuma's head with her blade. When the Akuma fell to pieces, she walked over to Kanda, and grabbed him by the back of his coat and placed him on his feet.

"Can you still fight?" she asked.

"Che. Of course I can." he responded, annoyed. A little scratch like that wasn't going to stop him.

"Good, because we got company." Lita nodded toward a small hoard of Level One Akuma drifting toward them. Kanda spat out a thick, hot glob of blood onto the snow before wiping his mouth.

"Let 'em come. I'll just cleave them in half, no matter what."

"You mean _we_."

"Tch. Just don't get in my way, woman."

"Sure, Yuu-chan."

"What was that? I thought I told you to stop calling me by that ridiculous name!"

"Sorry, guess I wasn't listening, as with more than half of the other things you say."

"Woman…"

They'd spent so much time arguing that they had failed to notice the Akuma hoard was nearly upon them. The Akuma all paused, momentarily unsure of what to do(it was a bit comical to see the two Exorcists bickering so fiercely…though Akuma aren't programmed with a sense of humor…or are they?), but finally decided to open fire. Unfortunately for them, their hesitation was all it took for the Exorcists to not only notice them, but prepare to attack.

"Whoever can kill the most wins." Kanda muttered before springing on the nearest Akuma and stabbing its face. Lita sighed wearily. That was so stupid…

"Whatever, Yuu Bakanda." she murmured, then followed Kanda's lead and jumped on the Akuma closest to her and stabbed her blade into it several times, before jumping onto the next one, just as the previous Akuma exploded.

Akuma blood gushed from the wounds the Exorcists inflicted on the monsters, dying the white snow crimson in less than a matter of minutes. When all of the level ones had been eliminated, Lita scanned the area for any Akuma that might've been leftover, but there were none, as far as she could tell.

She turned back to Yuu, who was wiping his blade off in the snow that wasn't contaminated by the Akuma's blood.

"We should go look for Lavi and Allen now-" suddenly a blur of orange and black flew past her and straight into Yuu, sending him flying backwards as it hit him. Lita jumped to avoid a second object, which was aimed at her. The white and black thing missed her by mere inches, coming so close that she could feel the air coming off of it hit her face as she leapt back. It was only until she landed and had stopped skidding that she realized the things thrown at her and Yuu were actually their comrades.

However, before she could call out to them, Allen yelled "Lita, behind you!"

Going against the instinct to turn around, Lita jumped to the right, narrowly missing being impaled by large shards of ice. She rolled back in the snow until she stopped herself, looking up to see three level two Akuma. One of the Akuma lunged forward at her, but she managed to dodge it by leaping to the side once more. Though what she had thought was an attack meant for her, was actually an attack meant for…

'_Wait…!'_ Lita glanced over her shoulder swiftly to see the slender, feminine Akuma that had charged her, blowing some sort of mist at her downed comrades.

"You should be more concerned about your own-" before the Akuma could even finish its words, directed at her, Lita jumped onto its bulky, awkward head and stabbed it with her blade.

"Auggghh, damn you, Exorcist scum!" it wailed in pain, clawing at the gash that Lita had left on its head. The female Exorcist then focused on the third Akuma, which successfully dodged her attack and clawed her midsection, throwing her into the snow so hard that she skidded several yards back.

"Hahaha, I killed her!" the Akuma said gleefully. It floated over to the motionless Exorcist's body, ready to collect the Innocence from the corpse.

"LITA!" Allen screamed in despair, unable to move since his feet were frozen. Lavi looked on with shock, almost unable to believe that Lita had really been hit.

"Woman…" Kanda breathed, struggling against the ice twice as hard now, but it was hard to do so when he had to deflect the constant barrage of icicles, and Lavi, likewise, was unable to free himself.

"Hehehe, the Earl will be pleased with me." the Akuma cackled, hovering over the Exorcist's body, which was lying face down. It turned over her corpse with one clawed hand, and then, with the other claw, prepared to rip out the Innocence in her body.

Only it never happened.

"GYYAAAAHHHH!" one arm fell heavily onto the snow while the other dangled loosely, connected by just a bit of tissue. Lita was on her feet, no visible injury in the place where the Akuma had hit her, save for a rip in her Exorcist jacket. Kanda smirked, knowing the whole time that she'd been feigning. He'd seen the moment where the Akuma had hit her, how she turned the sharp part of her blade toward its claws and using it as a sort of shield, so that the dull side of the blade hit her midsection rather than the Akuma's claws.

"Oi, Moyashi! Can't you use that gun of yours to free us!" Kanda shouted at his comrade. Allen blinked "Oh…yeah, I could." He'd been so caught up in the grief of believing that one of his comrades had died that he hadn't thought of breaking the ice with his cannon like Innocence.

"Innocence, Cross Beta, activate!" his left arm, which had previously been in claw form, transformed into its gun form. He fired first at his feet, then at Kanda's, then Lavi's. He then directed his Innocence at the Akuma that Lita had nearly beheaded, which was trying to sneak up behind the female Exorcist while she was dealing with the third Akuma.

"Retreat!" the feminine Akuma snarled, after nearly being scorched by Lavi's fire stamp. The other two Akuma followed her retreating back, not even thinking twice, until she suddenly stopped and turned around.

"H-Hey, what is it?" the large headed Akuma asked, but his only reply was a cold sucking wind. Both Akuma screamed in unison as they were literally devoured by their comrade, absorbed into her being.

The four Exorcists watched as a new Akuma emerged, giggling demonically with its new power.

"Great. She absorbed the other two to make herself stronger." Kanda growled.

"Uh, that's kinda gross. I don't think I've ever heard of Akuma eating each other before." Lavi wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"…" Allen seemed to be sharing the same feelings as Lavi, by the look on his face. Lita though, was more like Kanda, in the sense that she really didn't care, as long as they defeated it. She caught Kanda's eye, and nodded toward the Akuma.

"If we put all of our attack power together at once, we should be able to finish it." Lavi summarized, saying what Lita and Kanda had been thinking. Allen lifted his arm, and Lavi summoned his fire stamp. Lita and Kanda pushed off the ground together, slashing both sides of the newly transformed Akuma, which was followed by Lavi and Allen's attacks. The she-Akuma screeched in pain before finally succumbing to her wounds and turning to dust.

"Well, that's that." Lavi sighed, sitting back in the snow. Allen nodded, letting his arm transform back to its normal state as the other two Exorcists put away their weapons.

"Papa!" a far off voice cried. Lita watched as a girl chased after an older man, who was confronting Lavi about something. After some talk, he turned to the girl and hugged her. Lita titled her head to the side, the scene stirring up some faint emotion in her, a buried memory of the past. She smiled bitterly, thinking of her own parents.

"Hey, tell the others I'm going ahead and taking the Innocence back to the Order. I don't want to dawdle around and risk something happening to it." Kanda told her.

"Huh? I'll just come with you…I'd like to get back as soon as possible, actually." she told him, then shouted to the others that she and Kanda would be leaving immediately. Lavi and Allen decided to stay behind and rest a bit with Bookman before returning, but saw them off until they reached the inn.

"Hey, by the way Lita, since when did you start calling Yuu by his first name?" Lavi asked, smirking.

"Uh…well…"

"Probably since she heard it from you!" Kanda snapped angrily at Lavi, scowling at the redheaded Exorcist. Lavi pouted.

"So then why does it seem like you don't get angry at her for saying your first name, but you always jump on me when I call you Yuu?"

"Che." was the only response he got.

When the train arrived and the Exorcists boarded, Lavi, Allen, and Bookman waved to them. Allen grinned mischievously and scooped up some leftover snow on the ground, packing it into a nice ball.

"Oi! Bakanda!" he shouted.

"What you damned Moyashi-" Kanda made the mistake of sticking his head out the window.

"Yuu, what is-" Lita stopped when Kanda pulled his head in, most of his face covered in snow.

"Um…nevermind."

**AN:** waaaahh! I'm sosososoooo sorry for not updating sooner, but my English teacher has been KILLING us with essays, and in between that and everything else, I haven't had much time to write for this. ok, the scar thing'll be explained, I was wrong about Kanda being dead, so sorry for no updating sooner…kthanx DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!


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